This One’s for the Girls

Every week I post these little missives to this blog and it is like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it out to sea. I am not really sure who reads it and who doesn’t. Every time I post this, I send it out to a group of friends and I know some of them read it and I know some of them don’t That’s OK, there won’t be a test…well, maybe…

One of the oddest comments I have received in years was at an event recently when someone I had only met a few times said, somewhat rudely, “You are a mother? You don’t look like you have kids!”  I wasn’t quite sure what that meant and I didn’t stick around to find out but it did get me thinking.  Thinking about mothers and perceptions and women in general which leads me to you all:   my friends.

While I have been dissecting my own life and looking at ways to achieve a higher quality of life with two very important people and create a balance between children/work/life-in-general, I have been getting feedback from my friends. The feedback is remarkable to me in the sense that we are all trying. Trying really hard to make this imperfect thing (life) work.

I see women who are in difficult circumstances and somehow figure a way through while still caring for their children and other family members. Women who take up the nurturing role regardless of whether or not they have given birth (because that is what women do!) Whether it is from opening a business, starting a new life with a new spouse, having a baby, having another baby, preparing a son for a bar mitzvah, sending a child to college, dealing with a sick parent, dealing with the death of a parent… I have watched my friends handle the situation with grace and courage and a sense of responsibility and caring. These women have been and will remain an inspiration to me.

Thank you for telling me that your 8-year old has been cranky; that your husband and you don’t always agree on everything; that you forgot your kid’s lunch the other morning; that you just wanted to take a hot bath instead of helping someone with their homework; that you wanted to scream in the middle of a meeting… but you kept it together.

Thank you for your support, advice and just for being there! If I copied you on the link to this, you know that somewhere in what I have said that I am talking about you and I just want you to know (because wow, I have this opportunity to post on a blog) how much your support has meant to me not just during this resolution challenge but also in the last year(s). I am indebted.

Happy Mother’s Day ! This means you, too, Mom!