Go Find a Mother (Day 46, Year 2)

You know that advice we give our kids if they ever get lost? If you can't find a police office, find another mother. A mother will know what to do to help you. 

Mothers are the best problem solvers on the planet; even when they are faced with a problem they know nothing about it. I think this is our super power--problem solving. While the days can be overwhelming at best and incomprehensibly impossible at worst, it is this super problem solving that gets us through, together. 

I often take the advice I gave my kids when I am feeling lost--I call another mother. I have mothers that I know will simply listen to me rant; mothers with first hand experience in many things; mothers who will laugh and laugh; childhood cancer mothers; preeclampsia mothers; mothers with dead brothers; mothers with dead fathers; mothers obsessed with their hair; mothers obsessed with my hair; mothers for every season, situation and drama. 

Like this week: I've called the mother I know shares my belief in the importance of math for our daughters, the mother who has experienced the dark scocery that is IEP planning, the mother who also feels completely and utterly overwhelmed like I do, the mother who loves to discuss Wordle and the mother who is simply, always a delight.  

Raising kids is complicated and a lot of work. And no one really knows how to do it. But, together, we all can patch together something that is pretty close to perfect. 

Seriously guys, without all the mothers, I'd be one stressed-out mother $@&^#!. 

In the beginning, I did not have these mothers. It took time to realize that there was an army at my disposal--one I found in my real life, at school, at church, at the pool, in the Meetup.com playgroup and then later in social media groups and networks. Mothers are everywhere. And we are all struggling, with something or another, and even when we are not in a good place, we are all always ready to help another mother who is feeling a little lost. And if we don't have the answer, we know a mother who does. 

Thank you to all my mothers--my motherhood army of superior problem solvers, constant comisserators, curators of knowledge of all things and most importantly, my friends. You are all doing beautiful jobs and you all keep me afloat every single day.