Shirley MacLaine in the movie Terms of Endearment, we'll run around a nurse's station like a banshee screaming, “My daughter is in pain. Give her the shot. Do you understand me? Give my daughter the shot!” without a second thought as to what someone might say or think.
Women do whatever we must to keep our families safe, protected, and loved. We always have. It's what we do.
Things Women Do for Their Families . . . (Between 7:55 and 8:00 A.M.)
| 7:55:00 | Looks through the laundry hamper for husband's missing blue sock. |
| 7:55:28 | Assures teenage daughter that her red top looks fabulous with her black miniskirt. |
| 7:55:32 | Avoids cringing at shortness of miniskirt. Keeps the peace. |
| 7:55:58 | Finds husband's sock stuck inside middle schooler's T-shirt. |
| 7:55:59 | Also spots toddler's stuffed tiger, missing for the past week, at the bottom of the laundry hamper. |
| 7:56:22 | Answers phone. Follows daughterapproved script for talking to daughter's boyfriend. Keeps the peace. |
| 7:56:43 | Helps husband locate paper. |
| 7:56:54 | Decides not to remind husband that the paper was exactly where he left it last night. |
| 7:57:02 | Tosses middle schooler box of cereal as a not-so-subtle reminder to eat breakfast. |
| 7:57:10 | Remembers middle schooler has been feeling ignored. Sits next to him at the breakfast table. |
| 7:57:40 | Spots toddler attempting to hang the family dog from the railing with the leash. |
| 7:57:41 | Leaps up from the chair (without toppling it) to rescue the dog. |
| 7:58:02 | Lets the dog outside to the safety of the backyard. |
| 7:58:05 | Gives toddler the newly found tiger. |
| 7:58:18 | Apologizes to middle schooler. Asks him how soccer is going. Manages to give him her full attention for forty seconds. |
| 7:58:58 | Sees toddler doing potty wiggle by the bathroom door. |
| 7:58:59 | Gets toddler to bathroom in time. |
| 7:59:11 | Assures teenage daughter that the black top and black miniskirt look even better than outfit number one. |
| 7:59:14 | Calls daughter chic and is rewarded with a smile and, “Thanks, Mom.” Keeps the peace. |
| 7:59:23 | Wipes toddler's butt. |
| 7:59:25 | Kisses husband good-bye. |
| 7:59:28 | Tells husband he looks great. Really means it. |
| 7:59:31 | Gets toddler dressed. |
| 7:59:56 | Makes it back to the kitchen table while middle schooler is still sitting there. |
| 7:59:57 | Apologizes and resumes conversation about soccer. Tries not to wonder if the quiet in the next room is a good thing or not. |
A Wonderful, Amazing, Stupendous, Inspiring, Butt-Kicking Real-Life Story
As a teenager, Judee sang in clubs and dreamed of the touring life. Somehow she ended up a single mom raising two girls. Times weren't always easy, and money was tight. When nine-year-old Julie asked for piano lessons, Judee had to say no. She never forgot the sadness on her daughter's face.
Years later, long after Judee and Julie became the owners of a thriving custom optical manufacturing business, they were wining and dining at a black-tie benefit just a few weeks before Julie's thirtieth birthday. As they browsed the items up for auction, Judee saw Julie eyeing a beautiful Schafer and Sons piano with the same wistful, pleading expression that had begged for lessons long ago. But now, Judee could do something about it.
Judee's hand was first in the air when bidding started on the piano, and she would not be deterred. This gift would fulfill Julie's long-held dream. Her daughter would have that piano! Unfettered by rules of decorum and a room full of bluebloods, Judee stood up and announced to her competitor, “You can bid as high as you want, but this is a present for my daughter's thirtieth birthday. She's going to have that piano and I'm not going to stop bidding until it's hers!”
That very piano now sits in Julie's living room, and she plays it beautifully and often. Though she's shy about playing in front of other people, she always makes an exception for her mom.
If Women Ran the World . . . Women would know that whatever we can do in any given moment is enough. As a result, guilt, beating ourselves up, and the phrase “I should” would cease to exist.
A Butt-Kicking Inspiration
In the 1860s and 1870s, when Anna Jarvis was a little girl, she often heard her mother wish that there was a day commemorating all mothers for their wonderful deeds of service to their families. Years later, after her mother died in 1905, she vowed to fulfill her mother's wish.
The following year, Anna Jarvis gathered with friends on the first anniversary of her mother's death to honor and celebrate all the wonderful things her mother had done.By the second anniversary of her mother's death, she had convinced her mother's coworkers at the Andrews Church to form a Mother's Day Memorial Committee. Church leaders also passed a resolution favoring the founding of Mother's Day and held a memorial service for Anna's mother.
Anna Jarvis's efforts didn't stop there. She wrote to leaders in business and politics on all levels, and promoted her idea for a National Mother's Day every chance she had. By the third anniversary of her mother's death, she had garnered enough support that full programs were held at two Andrews Churches to honor all mothers.
Through Anna Jarvis's continued efforts, Mother's Day was observed in forty-five states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico in 1909 and the Governor of West Virginia issued the first Mother's Day proclamation in 1910. Then in 1914, just nine years after her mother's death, a joint resolution was passed by the United States House and Senate naming the second Sunday in May Mother's Day. At a time when women had not yet earned the right to vote, Anna Jarvis convinced leaders at the highest level to vote for a day that honors mothers everywhere. She fulfilled her mother's wish that all mothers are forever celebrated for the wonderful things they do.
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The Wonderful, Amazing, Stupendous, Inspiring, Butt-Kicking Things I've Done for My Family
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