To Marmees Everywhere

Ever since I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, I've referred to my mother as my very own marmee. After my long list of books on my last entry, I forgot to mention that I'm reading I am a Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson. It's an empowering book meant to uplift mothers everywhere who answer the question: "What do you do for a living?" I often answer: "Oh, I just stay at home with my kids" as if I should be saying, "well, nothing really." That is not the answer I should be giving....at least not in the attitude I answer.
Over 60 years ago, J. Reuben Clark called motherhood "the highest, holiest service...assumed by mankind." I'll be the first to say it doesn't always feel like that. I've worked on and off after we began our family and it's always much harder to feel "productive" as a mother trying to keep up with mundane, everyday duties than someone who's bringing home a paycheck. But this book is making me take a different look at myself. In The Women of God, Neal Maxwell said,

"When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peace-making of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses?"

I surely hope so.
Sometimes the praise is hollow. Sometimes it seems like it is merely covering up a quick dismissal of this "career path". But as I tuck the monkeys into bed and think of the legacy of women that has been left before me, I realize the importance of my job. I only pray that I and mothers around the world can proudly answer: "I'm a mom!"
Here's to my marmee and those other marmees that influenced the people in my life. I thank you and hope I can live up to the legacy you began and left behind.