Mom's Da Bomb

It's not Mother's Day, but I wanted to give a shout-out to moms anyway.

A lot of people get away with such base selfishness these days:  They tell their enabling friends to do things for them, giving longwinded rationalizations rather than simply asking nicely; they feel entitled to such treatment and show no appreciation or affection for other people; when they make a mistake or intentionally do something wrong, they blame other people; and when their friends inconvenience them, they remember it forever.  They believe "first come, first served" and defend their acquisitions from the needy with zeal; they use their words to hurt others, calling it "constructive criticism".

At some point you want to speak out against this asinine behavior, but your hands are tied.  You know how they'll respond:  "Who are you, my mother?"

We are not their mothers.  And there's nothing much we can do.  But out there, all across the globe, are millions of women who are, in fact, mothers, working tirelessly to raise their children properly.  To teach them to say please and thank you, I'm sorry and I forgive you.  To make sure they learn to share and to be polite.  It's a big job, and it takes so much sacrifice.

As Helen Parr points out in"The Incredibles" alternate opening: "Do you have any idea how much suffering would fail to take root if more people were just good parents?"

This is for all the moms who spend so many hours on their kids, even if it interferes with work or sleep or recreation; who stop what they're doing to play peacemaker between feuding siblings, who enforce discipline regardless of the fuss the kids put up, who drive their kids around for school events when they'd rather not, who keep on providing healthy dinners even when fast food would be easier and more popular, who navigate the daunting terrain of glares, tantrums, lies, pouts and underhanded schemes their charges throw at them, with little or no hope of gratitude.

Well, it's a long time coming and it's the least any of us can do:  Thank you.  Thank you so much, all you selfless, selfless moms.  Thank you for being so devoted to your job.

And thank you to my own mom, now also my best friend, who not only did everything mentioned above but always listened to us (even when we were being idiots) and respected our thoughts from the moment we could express them.  Moreover she always managed to get a bible-reading into the morning routine, which did us the most good by far, pointing us to the Rock that sustains and redeems us all our days.