Happy Mother's Day to All!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, happy Mother's Day yesterday! I say Everyone, because I think it should be a great day for all - all mothers, all children and all of the menfolk, trying their best to make it a nice day. It should have been a joyful, stress free kind of day.

I am a Mother to two wonderful kids and I must say, this is, by far, THE MOST controversial Mother's Day I can ever recall.  How can you make Mother's Day controversial? We got the weekend kicked off with Time magazine going for ultimate shock value with their cover demanding. "Are You Mom Enough?" Duh! No one asked a question like that in my Mom's day! Are we now supposed to feel guilty about how much we love our kids and how attached we might be. Well, honestly, that part has always been out there. I guess the new guilt is over how much we want to be SuperMom and balance home and career in the mind boggling juggling act that we perform daily. I also have some concern that there will be some kind of perverse backlash against nursing. That is one creepy image. My nursing days were some of the happiest moments of my life and I will always treasure that era. I  am far less offended by her breast than I am by the expression on her face and notion that the kid needs to climb a stepstool to come to her. Nursing is such a glorious private, cuddling time. I don't see a misogynistic plot in the Mom going to the child to provide love, comfort, and nurturing along with sustenance.

Then, on top of all this, we have model, Christy Turlington Burns, launching a 'just say No' boycott of Mother's Day with "Every Mother Counts," to raise awareness for childbirth complications. I can see where the holiday has become overcommercialized with cards, store sales, etc. However, there are so many other ways to be vocal and use our energy to provide better healthcare for pregnant women. We must not remain silent when the Religious Right and other ultra Conservative groups play with women's healthcare as a political tool. This is a mission that should remain at the top of our minds all year round and especially during every election season. See an interesting video by MoveOn.org to see how women were thrown under the bus during the primaries.