Today is Mother’s Day. A day to embrace all mothers. Some of us will be with mothers, others will embrace virtually thanks to our current new normal and limited travel.
I wrote this in 1982 when I was a new mother. I missed my own mother terribly. She sadly never knew her grand-daughters. My mother survived the blitz in London then celebrated VE Day with her mother. My father was away, deployed in Egypt. She is very much on my mind now as we survive the challenges of lockdown.
On this mothers day I decided to reprint this short piece.
Outstanding Career Opportunity – Mothering
Rewarding full-time job: Hours – minimum 7:00 am to 7:00 pm; seven days a week, all holidays, at least two full nights per month. Minimum tenure: 20 years, then part time. No tangible remuneration, benefits or pension.
Technical Skills
Self-assured individual with leadership ability for face-paced environment involving decision making. Organizational talents, self starter, time and motion planning experience; detail oriented. Ability to run small organization effectively, manage personnel, mediate in disputes and handle disciplinary action. Account and budget planning, strong verbal and written communication skills, some typing. Willingness to master nursing, cooking, sewing and laundering. An equal opportunity employer.
Personal Qualities
Essential to be able to survive under considerable pressure, work against deadlines, take orders and demands from several sources simultaneously. Poise, sense of humor and stamina of an English Cart Horse. Flexibility – it will often be necessary to completely drop a task and change pace 180 degrees. Endless patience and kindness needed when the same request or question has been repeated over 60 times.
Working Parameters
Great variety, but important to maintain a secure routine, which at times, may seem interminable. As no formal training is available, the ability to master techniques and overcome obstacles immediately is essential.
Compulsory
Substantial financial donations a prerequisite.
Comment
Defining motherhood with its frustrations, responsibility, total change of lifestyle, yet, enduring joy, is hard.
“Motherhood is never finishing a sentence.” It is about never being able to concentrate on a phone call. Many witticisms abound – but, in fact, it is volunteering for the world’s most influential job; shaping the next generation to be able to cope emotionally, physically and mentally in a world beyond our comprehension.
Mothers come to this “career opportunity” untrained, but, we have, in today’s jargon, a role model – our own mothers. Unconsciously, or even consciously, we draw on our experience as a child. We may search for a sea shell or the first spring flower as we did with our own mothers. Enjoy reading the same stories or poems, visit the same places. We want to repeat and share the halcyon golden moments of our own childhood and give them to our progeny.
We pass on our sense of values, again inherited. We want to give our children everything we had, and more. Herein, though, lies a terrible trap. Our children may also copy our human frailties. Destructive traits maybe repeated too. Motherhood is challenging.
The rewards from this incredible total involvement and hard work are intangible. Not fashionable in a society where success is measured by tangibles and appearances. But, unlike tangibles and appearances, these rewards cannot be stolen, dissipated or grow old. These rewards hang as an invisible diamond necklace – diamonds which can never be snatched or destroyed.”
Conclusion: A Bouquet to Mothers Everywhere
Today, Mother’s Day is a day which may be marked by flowers, breakfast in bed, long-distance phone calls cards, accolades some tangibles and some intangibles. It is also a moment for reflection, a time to appreciate our own mothers, and theirs.
So to all mothers – here is your remuneration! Wear your invisible diamonds with pride, joy and dignity. You have earned them with your devotion and they bring you their own exquisite, matchless joy and enduring beauty.
First published 1982
