Mother's Day is coming up on us fast and at 73 & 75 years old we still have one mother who will be 95 this year. Reflecting upon my personal 73 years of which 51 of them included motherhood I started to think about a day in my life today.
These days I still get up about 5 or 6 a.m. opening up the computer to take care of any important emails, I feed Chocolate the dog we inherited from our late son, Jeff and take a myriad of medication that apparently helps to keep me on my feet and above ground.
Then, weather permitting and it's the correct season for it, I put in 1 or 2 hours in the garden coming in to then have my breakfast and look through my "to do" list for the day.
This list includes writing letters, articles, research, working on a painting, dusting, answering phones, washing clothes, putting them in the dryer, emptying and loading the dishwasher, cooking meals, running errands, picking up groceries, doing some civic functions, finding time to read a few pages in the current book of the week, remembering friends and family birthdays, anniversaries, getting out the necessary get-well cards or sorry about your loss cards, getting the mail, finding money to pay the bills, fixing broken things around the house, finding space for a power nap and a myriad of other things that seem to fill this day and this is all at the age of 73!
How the heck did I get through the days when there was 5 kids, a husband to make feel special, 3 businesses to run, civic duties to perform, social obligations to tend to, chauffeuring at least until one of the kids was old enough to get a driver's license and the chore was turned over the them, clean, cook and sew and lord knows what else filled my day which probably included a lot of the above.
Being a mother does not end when the kids grow up and move away. We still worry about them and telephone and emails allow us for faster and hopefully, more often, communication as opposed to the old days when one said, "Wonder why they don't write".
Today's mom has more pressures than ever as far as I am concerned. Sure she is not crossing the country in a covered wagon or living in a sod-buster's house, but chances are she has a full time job, often is a single mom and is still trying to do most of the things mentioned above. Today's mom more than likely does not have all the home making skills that gals of our age were taught and more than likely her mom was not a "stay at home" mom which really added a lot to a kids up bringing.
Being a mother is a full time chore, beloved most of the time, but a full time chore! We need to pat ourselves on the back, girls because men could never do it!
So my advice to you moms is to make sure your find a space every day for yourself. One hour where no one or nothing can get to you. One time a week where you can take a workshop or a course that allows you to pursue a dream, a hobby or whatever. Believe me the rest will still be there when you walk back into motherhood, but at least you will have had a breather!
