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I’ll never forget when a video called “The World’s Toughest Job” went viral. In this video, people came in to interview for a job for “Director of Operations” and were told that it required 135+ hours per week with no vacation, no sick days, and no pay.
They were told it would be physically and emotionally exhausting, and very painful in the first few weeks. That other employees would often yell, hit, and even urinate on them and that the job would be thankless.
Of the 2.7 million people who saw the ad, only 24 inquired about the job and the interviewees responded with shock or bewilderment when they heard the job requirements…
When they revealed that this “most important job” was a job that billions do daily: motherhood, it brought many of the applicants to tears.
What is in a Mother’s Day?
The US version of Mother’s Day was created in 1908 by Anna Jarvis and at the time, it was the only holiday that honored women. When it became overly commercialized, she denounced it and spent the rest of her life trying to remove it from the calendar.
Now, 25% of all flowers purchased during the year are bought on Mother’s Day. It is the day of the year with the most phone calls (122 million in the US alone) and about 14 billion dollars are spent each Mother’s Day.
In theory, it is great that we have a day to honor moms, and I hope that all of us do this everyday, but I personally don’t like the over-commercialized version that we have now. I certainly appreciate the sweet cards from my children today, but how is today any more special as a mom than any other day?
How is this day more of a “Mother’s Day” than the day I found out I was expecting a child and became a mom? How is it more important than the six days that were spent bringing my babies into the world?
Does today mean more than the other 364 days a year when we get our children up, feed them, teach them, take them to their various activities, and safely tuck them into bed?
How is today more of a day to honor moms than the days we have all stayed up with sick children, or kissed boo-boos, or even had to say earthly good-byes to our children?
At the end of the day, we don’t need a day, because we have all of them.
The Secret All Moms Know
Here’s the thing. Everything in the video about the world’s toughest job is true.
Motherhood is hard. It’s the hardest job there is.
From the very beginning it is intensely painful (childbirth anyone?), physically demanding, emotionally and mentally exhausting.
You get to trade the body and life that you once had for stretch marks (and often incision scars) and a screaming mini-dictator that demands 110% of your time and attention.
You say goodbye to showers, and going to the bathroom alone, and a completely clean house (at least for the first few years).
Your boobs sag, your hair falls out (either from pregnancy or stress at some point), and you don’t sleep for approximately 5.8 years…
You make the decision to forever have your heart walking around outside your body, sometimes multiple times. You give birth to someone you love more than you ever thought it was possible to love and realize that you might crumble if you ever lost this person, this part of you…. and sometimes you do.
And the crazy part is that you’d do it all again and wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Because we are the ones that they run to when they are hurt, and ask to tuck them in at night, and the ones they say “I love you” to.
They may not appreciate us until they have kids of their own (Mom, I truly appreciate you now, I’m sorry for all the trouble I was growing up and I love you), but that doesn’t matter…
Because motherhood isn’t just beautiful because they love you, but also because by loving them, you become better each day.
Because when we go to bed each night, often exhausted, we have accomplished something important each and every day.
Own Your Strength…
I often get asked “Do you work, or are you just a mom?”
This question bothers me because in my opinion, moms work extremely hard, whether they have a job outside the home or not.
Here’s the trade-off though:
Moms also have much more power than we realize…
Day to day, we are raising the next generation. We are teaching the future world leaders, school teachers, scientists, and mothers of the world. We are forming the minds and hearts of the next generation.
More than any other job, ours matters.
We may often go to bed at night wishing we’d done better that day or feeling bad that we didn’t have more patience or that we didn’t keep the house cleaner, but we did the most important thing that day… we were moms. Imperfectly wonderful moms.
Creating Change on Mother’s Day
Incredible power comes with this incredible responsibility of motherhood. It’s a fact… we control the majority of our country’s spending power. We control the food budget. We make or influence 85% of all purchasing decisions, according to Edison Research.
Here’s my humble proposal…
This year, let’s make Mother’s Day a celebration of the real power of moms and start taking ownership of our collective power as moms.
Let’s vote with our dollars and start increasing the demand for healthier foods and products by choosing them for our own families. Let’s create a healthier future for our children. I believe we are doing this and it is working.
Happy Mother’s Day Every Day
As a mom myself, I have so much respect for the work that all women and moms do each day. It’s nice to have a day to go out, do something special, or take a break, but my whole purpose with this blog is to celebrate all you do daily as a mom and hopefully make some of those things a little easier.
So whenever you read this, Happy Mother’s Day!
To all moms and step-moms…
Grandmothers and godmothers…
Those who hope and pray to become mothers, and those who have lost children or their own mothers…
Your gift to the world is seen, noticed, and appreciated.
From one mother to another, Happy Mother’s Day, today and every day!
Are you #JustAMom like me? Will you help me harness our collective spending power to change our families health for the better?
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Funny! I like your sense of humor. Don’t forget all the FUN of being a mom – and (much later on), a grandma!
Katie- thank you for using the epic reach of your voice to remind us moms that in this economy, our money is power, whether we have a lot or a little. We shape the food economy, for ourselves, for our families, for the future. The same year I took the Toughest Job, I also took another challenging unpaid position (in addition to the “real job” I already had): president of a startup food co-op. I took it precisely because it was more important than ever to improve access to real, healthy food for myself, my family, and all the other moms with limited options for feeding their families where we live. Do I have time? Heck no! But as one of my fellow directors said, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” In other words, get a mom!
Thanks for what you’re doing to help improve our food supply!
This opened my eyes. Thank you so very much!!
I am not a mother. I pray to be one day. But I’m somewhat of a nanny. I have 2 amazing kids (a 3 year old boy, and a 1 year old girl ((as of yesterday)) ) that I can’t imagine not having around me to brighten my days.
This is perfect. I agree with everything you said, the privilege is ours.
Happy Mother’s Day to you and thank you for posting this great article. So many people forget that a Mother’s Job is 365 days a year, so everyday is our day.
Wow ! Well said Katie . Personally we don’t observe Mothers day for some of the very reasons you mentioned. We have however, over the years made changes that are better for our family.
Refusing to purchase gmo foods for instance and relying in part on the non gmo verified project label for some purchases.
We look for higher quality of Food. Pasture raised eggs and meat from a farm we can visit if possible . If we can’t verify we don’t buy. The money we don’t spend goes towards savings. For ex if we have $100 to spend and only can get $50 worth of good food purchases we save the extra $50 we don’t try to fill our fridge just so it’s full . we have also started doing something else. Choosing to have just what we need for each day. And planning meals. It’s made us really think about what foods we buy and realize that most of the foods at the grocery store are just to fill the shelves.
Thanks to you a month ago we incorporated cod liver oil in our diet daily . I was one of the kids who was fortunate to have a mom chase me around with the stuff .?She also cooked broths at least once a week with tons of veggies. So a lot of the things remind me of childhood in a good way .
As I see it the best we can hope for is to have a network of people who support change for their children in a good way . eventually good will prevail but being a part of promoting good takes effort and it’s satisfying to know that your choices even something as seemingly insignificant as food made a difference for the better in someone else’s life.
This made me tear up. Thank you for this because we all need a reminder every now and again. It is a wonderful reminder to be the best mom I can be, to stress less and let everything else work itself out. Have a great day!
Thank you for this post! As a homeschooling mom myself who tries hard to feed her family well, I often feel that I’m up against a huge wheel pushing us in the opposite direction. Family and friends who don’t share my passion for a healthy lifestyle and deliberate, healthful food choices, often act counter to what I do. I sometimes wonder if it’s worth it. I know, deep down, that it is, but the struggle is hard and most often unrecognized. In the same way that I nurture my children’s minds and souls, I must continue to nurture their bodies. I appreciate the support you give all of us moms in this noble endeavor. God bless you!
Hi Katie you are so sweet, we need more teachers like you.
If sumone asked me do I work or am I just a mom, i would walk away laughing. There is nothing of worth i was going to hear from them that i cudnt get from another.
Sick culture.