Motherhood Means

Here was my entry for the Motherhood Means...contest for Parenting Mag.  I wish I had been more bold about my faith.  I really meant to write in the last paragraph, "...to love God, to love others, to love ourselves..." Now that I've entered it, I'm ashamed that I was squeamish about simply stating that.  What makes my truth-claim any less usable in a magazine than any other truth-claim?  It's like I had a momentary religion inferiority complex.  Sad... Well, I thought that the rest of it went pretty well considering the fact that I had an hour to work on it and pressed "send" at 11:58pm.  Learned my lesson for next time.

Motherhood, as far as I'm concerned, embraces superhero status.  The whole thing is magical, and my brain hasn’t quite grasped the fact that I have joined these venerable legions.  An embryo took form against overwhelming odds and grew 100 million times within me.  She then entered the world in a highly calibrated mission that broached the limits of the physical universe. 

Mothers deserve free lifetime massages for the tour de force of pregnancy and childbirth alone.  We, however, are meant for a much greater odyssey, one in which our true power will be unveiled.  Our charge is nothing less than keeping the action of love alive through our decisions.  Save the mothers.  Save the world. 

Babies fail to thrive without love.  People suffer in clinical depression without enough love.  It is a component vital to human life.  To love this world, to love others, to love ourselves – we mothers are here to teach and model just this.  Washing the dishes, folding the laundry and preparing dinner has never been mere housework.  In them, we are offered the power to teach our children that love is an action and a responsibility, that it really can change the world, and that it is evidenced by honest, persistent and compassionate work.   Whether we recycle, whether we model a healthy diet, whether we check in on our sick neighbor, whether we praise our children, whether we practice consistent discipline, whether we choose to fight for our marriages, whether we deal with our depression or anxiety – All of these “ifs” are factors that mothers in large part influence.  Ours are the little decisions that can resolve the nation’s struggles with pollution, obesity, isolation, communication, crime, divorce and so on.   We are the guardians of a precious resource.  Just call us THE LOVEMAKERS!