The Importance of Mothers

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was covered with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide and dog food was spilled on the floor. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, “What happened here today?” She again smiled and answered, “You know every evening when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?” “Yes,” was his incredulous reply! She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it.” An article in Forbes some months ago asked the question, "Think you can put a price on motherhood?" Then they presented a study on how many hours moms work and what the family would have to pay for outsourcing that duty. The 2012 survey determined the following: The average stay-at-home mom should make an annual salary of $112,962 based on a 40-hour per week base pay plus 54.7 hours a week of overtime; the average working mom should make an annual salary $66,969 based on 40-hours of mothering duties and 17.9 overtime hours per week. The question is “how much does yours make?” Very few of us would have the resources to pay those kinds of wages. However, I have found out that mothers really don’t require it. All they want is a little gratitude, a generous hug, and a sincere “I love you!” Because if we care to admit it all of us could agree with the words of Abraham Lincoln who wrote: “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."  If you praise her appropriately she will know she is stupendous, priceless, and matchless. She’s really important!