Happy Mothers’ Day

I had the opportunity to hear a wise woman speak today about “Mother’s Day”. This is a day where we traditionally say thank you to our mothers for what they have done for us. Many children say thank you, place phone calls, send flowers, take her out to lunch or bring her breakfast in bed.

Mothers come in many different shapes and sizes. There are women who have adopted babies or who are in the process. Like birth, it has many challenges that require you to think outside the box, lots of time to be patient, and a great deal of anticipation. There are mothers who are foster parents. These women open their doors to children who may not understand what a parent usually does for their children. There are families that have two mothers and they too face challenges when confronted with society, but their homes can be filled with a great deal of love, kindness and acceptance. There are surrogate mothers who have offered their womb to others who may not have that opportunity themselves for whatever reason. There are all the women who have been told they will not be able to have children biologically and may face the options in front of them. Some women have made the decision not to have children but it doesn’t mean that they don’t “mother”. They, like any other person, can provide nurturing kindess, a place to sit, an ear to listen, and even take them to soccer practice. The statistics are quite high for the number of women who have lost children during pregnancy or shortly after birth. Like many others out there, when the test comes back positive, the planning begins on how to take care of this child that is smaller than a sesame seed. When one looses a child, there is much that goes with it – hopes, dreams, wishes and plans. Those women – they are mothers too. Their time with their children may have been brief, but nonetheless valid as they shared that time together. Those children are always a part of their families. I also had the joy of attending a conference on Thursday about parenting with a disability. Many parents expressed the challenges they were faced with from the medical communities, families, friends, society.

So if you have noticed, the title of this post is “Mothers’ Day” with the apostrophe after the ‘s’ to include all the mothers that may not come to mind for many but who should be celebrated today. There is not just one type of mother. It is this inclusion that allows us to grow and learn from each others strengths, to support each other as we go through each day, and to celebrate together the world that we are creating.

That’s who we are as mothers – creators. We create life experiences – not just life. To give birth to a child – it is a great act, but it is only one. There are many more experiences in one’s lifetime where we have the opportunity to create, to change the world we live in and that which we leave to our children (and the world’s children).