dreams of this mother

This Mother's Day many of us will celebrate who we are, what we've done, how we've mothered. This holiday, while also and sadly commercially manufactured into another avenue for production and consumption is also a good time for reflection in the past and also for how we want to embrace our mothering in the future.

I am the mother who advocates for affordable housing. Of all the gifts I can give my daughter, besides love and affection and safety and fun and adventure the greatest gift I can give her is awareness. Awareness that not everyone has the same life as she does and that there are things we can do to fix it.

My child has the opportunity to spend a lot of time at shelters and housing programs. She's played with children who sleep in the streets or in abandoned buildings or on the floor. She's shared meals with children who haven't eaten regularly in days or weeks or sometimes months. And every time without fail, she will ask me why. Why doesn't she have a place to live? How long can she live with you? How does she sleep in such a big room? How does he get new toys? And from that place, she begins to think of solutions. Maybe I can give him my blankets. Maybe we should give our food to them. Maybe they can find a home today. Her awareness is soaring but it's a sad sort of flight, one that means she'll witness the suffering without knowing how to truly reconcile it.

When thirteen million children (1 in 6 kids) live in poverty in America and child poverty on the rise since 2000, this is reality she will have to face. When 1 million of these children are without a home in a given year and homeless families are the fastest growing segment of homelessness in the US today and it is mainly attributed to the lack of affordable housing and the fact that rents continue to skyrocket while wages do not all leads me to believe this crisis is not going to be resolved anytime soon.

But it doesn't have to be this way. It is unacceptable that we have not prioritized raising minimum wages and creating affordable housing. John Edwards had a plan to end poverty nationally within 30 years but since he's left the race we've lost our advocate and without committed leadership at the highest levels of office we will never be able to end one of the most horrible social ills in our generation. Without addressing these basic needs our communities will not be able to thrive and that ultimately affects all of us.

So on Mother's Day and on every day I promise to keep dreaming about a country where every child has a safe place to sleep and food in their bellies. Because this is the future I wish for my child, the one where all of her friends can know the same basic rights as she does.

Crossposted at MOMocrats where we are dreaming about many, many important things today.

Dreams of A Mother

We at MOMocrats invite you to join us as we post about Mothers on Mother's Day. If you want to join us all you have to do is write a post and link it to MOMocrats or send it to me and I'll make sure it is linked to our site. If you want to learn more you can read about it at MOMocrats too. But in short, we are asking you to join us in writing about Mother and Mothering. And you don't have to be a mother to get in the mix. Or for that matter, even a chick.

We are hoping to hear about:
Your dreams as a mother for your own kids;
Dreams your mother had for you, and how you fared;
Dreams of another mother you know who is fighting to make the world a better place.
Or whatever you choose, it's up to you. Join us.

PS. If you type the word Mother enough times you will start to think you've spelled it wrong. Trust me on this.

bearing witness

I see you. Fierce in your love, devastated by their suffering. Unbelievable joy in their accomplishments, no matter how small. The weight and measure you give every decision, not only for them, but for yourself because all you do affects them now. You carry that proudly; shoulders bending but never giving. I see you.

I see you. Mothers of one, two, three, and more. You who so desperately want a child, first time mothers, the sages who've been around the block a few times, the grandmothers. I see the care you put into your homes, your relationships, your life. Because all you do affects them now, you feel that and it matters. You would stop at nothing. I see you.

I see you, protective tigress, guffawing rainbow, clouds of rain. I see your journey and your sacrifice. I see your joyous faces thanking the gods for one more day, and for the end of each one passed. The miles on your cars, your feet, your souls. I see your old wardrobes and the million things you do without because there is something more important now, the lack of personal space, the creativity you once mustered. All of that makes you even more beautiful.

I see you. The moments when you are alone at 3am, a crying baby and little relief. The work you do even when you are sick, the occasional or often credit you don't receive by the simple fact that everyone's needs are met. The sacrifices you've made to your career, your adult life. How you know it and are fine because you've found your new calling and it's exactly how it should be, even when it's not.

I see you. Bending in immeasurable ways, picking up thousands of toys, singing in your kitchens, traveling the world. Teaching compassion, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, and justice. Planting flowers and drinking invisible tea. Kissing bare bellies and grasping them close. Watching them sleep and cuddling them awake. Holding hearts and souls when others have tried to crush them. You want everything for them and you do whatever is needed. You show up. Simply put, you never stop showing up.

To some of the most outstanding mothers in the world, I see you. I see you and I celebrate the majesty of you.

Happy Mothers' Day, you gorgeous, gorgeous human beings, you.