Today on this Mother’s Day 2021, one of my favourite quotes comes to mind: We plan, and G-d, the universe or whatever force out there you believe guides this wild adventure called life, laughs.
Just when I was all set to launch the latest 13th lesson in the Covid Clarity Series this week, replete with companion video and more (yes, those stories where I fail miserably in my impersonation of a fashion model lol!), I realized I couldn’t possibly not honor this momentous Mother’s Day with its own lesson because let’s call a spade a spade, if this pandemic and lockdown life has taught us anything, revealed any basic truth, it’s that moms are truly one of the greatest treasures on this earth and we would be absolutely nowhere without their extraordinary love and next level devotion.
How have they shown up during some of the most trying and terrifying stretches of existence we’ve known? Let me count the ways …
When so many schools announced plans to shut down, they somehow – miraculously! – morphed into full-time teachers and /or teacher’s assistants and support teams (depending on the circumstances of distance learning), spending hours taking up the reins of an essential profession they now have more respect for than ever, sweating it out, against all odds, even when they – and their new at-home classroom residents – were beyond frustrated and grumpy, desperately missing the camaraderie and structure of traditional learning. (One friend, bless her honesty, confided teaching her daughter was so stressful and challenging, she wasn’t above topping off the mommy smoothie with a little tequila tequila!)
Also on many moms’ new lockdown agenda was full-time entertainment and leisure coordinator. With social bubbles growing smaller by the day, and schools and most activities and retailers highly restricted, it was suddenly their mandate and responsibility to, as another mom friend called it “find the fun,” a challenging endeavor under the best of circumstances but rendered considerably more demanding while juggling myriad other rigors of pandemic living including uh part- and full-time careers in the middle of a she-cession. Still they rose to the occasion like the warrior goddesses they are, tapping into all kinds of imagination, coming up daily with an incredibly admirable and inspiring array of activities like family game time (even Michelle and Barack were all over this one with daughters Sasha and Malia); daily excursions (kudos to pals like Tuti who did this so well she can literally build an excursion empire for all ages, please sign me up); and so many more, too numerous to mention, all testaments to their seemingly endless resilience and inventiveness.
Finally, we would be remiss here if we failed to pay homage to numerous other hats mommy magicians have worn so well as they continued to navigate the highly uncharted waters of our new abnormal. To list a few: restaurateurs/chefs (often prepping and cleaning up three meals a day, a task made even more difficult with varying tastes and nutritional requirements to cater to, ahem!); organizational experts, often spending hours tidying up with everyone home, learning, working and languishing simultaneously (surely wishing at exceptionally disorganized moments, they could snap figures and summon the stars of The Home Edit to step in and work their wonders!!); and, of course, motivational speakers (read miracles) the likes of whom even Lewis Howes, topman at his famed School Of Greatness, would be impressed with, offering up a signature brand of nurturing, comfort, wisdom and motivation, as only mothers can, when their little (and bigger ones!) needed it most.
Clearly, moms showed up over the last year and a half, exceeding expectations.
And so, in closing I proudly dedicate this lesson to my own magnificent mom Gail (who is truly one of the most spectacular humans I know, not to mention the funniest, smartest, kindest best friend anyone could hope for) as well as the many equally almighty moms in my midst who I love and treasure (you know who you are!!) in addition to the countless others around the world who championed on, cooking, teaching, planning and caring for their brood with the kind of focus surgeons would envy, creativity Cirque de Soleil would give brownie points to, and insurmountable reserves of strength and patience worthy of the uppermost military officials even when, at times, they wanted to pull out hair, destroy things, run away to an island with just copious amounts of vodka & wine as companions and scream “I love school and teachers, pleazzzzzzz bring them back!” at the top of their lungs.
This is for them; for all the love and caring and mountain moving they did this year and every year. In a word, they’re as close to perfect as we get on the human scale.
Happy Mother’s Day Moms!!! May you take some much-deserved time for YOU today, to laugh, relax, exhale, be pampered and spend time with the precious ones.
We LOVE you, we HONOUR you, we APPRECIATE you and even if we don’t always show it, we know darned well we would be nowhere without you!!
Hope you enjoyed this latest, unplanned Life Lesson in the ongoing Covid Clarity Series. For more, check out the site and companion materials on Social Media.