to Mom (verb)

Hello America, Hello World… today is a big day in our country and I am a hopeful mess.

As I have mentioned before, when I was little I wanted to grow up and be a mom…not a graphic designer, production manager, volunteer, or wife…just a mom.

I have been fortunate to be all of the people listed above, and I am blessed for what each of those roles has taught me, but nothing can teach you about life like being a mom.

Don’t mistake my definition of the word mom to mean…someone who has given birth. To me a mom is one who nurtures, who gives, who sees, who provides unconditional love, and who understands the concept of embracing joy. It is a verb, it is an action word. You do not need children to mom. Having kids makes doing it even harder, especially having teenagers.

Many people in our country are in a bit of a tizzy. How could people vote for him? What is wrong with them, don’t they read? Why would people vote against their own interests? Don’t people see his true colors? Can’t people see he is only in this for himself?

I am not making a political statement here. I am speaking facts of what is making people crazy at the moment and about a week ago it all became a bit more clear to me.

When talking to a friend about the difficulties of taking care of our elderly parents, having them in our homes 24/7, caring for them, overseeing their health and safety, respecting that they are our parents…even though they forget the word for fork on a regular basis and wake up many mornings asking if it is Christmas yet. We discussed the cost of putting parents into a “good” home. Around here that can cost 12-15 thousand dollars a month for a memory care unit. That is ridiculous and not possible. I mentioned that in the rest of the world, multigenerational living is the norm. Parents live with their children, adult offspring live with their parents, sometimes many generations in one home at one time.

What this thought made me realize is our country is so so so very young, we are so far behind the rest of the world. Our country has been very lucky…every generation has done better than the last…until now. Our country is in its adolescent phase. Adolescents are very very scary. I loved being a mom, I was terrified of being the mom of adolescents.

Some adolescents do not listen, do not want to hear truth or facts, they want to do what they want to do, they know best, they would rather burn down their own house than admit they are wrong. Some adolescents follow the rules, dot the i’s and cross the t’s, know better than everyone else and let everyone know it, they are extremely annoying. Many want to squash their success…even if they go down with them. Then there are the quiet adolescents, the ones nobody notices until looking at the yearbook 10 years later, the ones who don’t feel like they have a voice, but if they just had some confidence they could rule the school. Unfortunately they stay quiet, they are not heard.

Our country is made up of these stereotypes right now… and it is terrifying. The rest of the world…the adults…have survived being a young country, they have survived horrific situations and continue to do so. They know life is difficult, unfair, and ever-changing. They do not expect perfection. They adult and they enjoy the good moments when they can get them.

If anyone is going to help our country grow through this adolescent phase…it is a woman… a woman called Momala.

I guess that was a political statement. I stand by it. I have hope.