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Happy Mother's Day,

The mothers of MOTHERS    

Lots going on in Washington, including the first ever  Listen To Your Mother-DC  performance with 14 mothers telling their individual stories to a sold-out crowd on May 6.  Some speakers made us laugh out loud in recognition, some made us cry, but all were unflinchingly honest and refreshingly real.   No doubt it will be an annual event, and next year they will need a bigger theater. 

This week the US Senate convenes a hearing, "Beyond Mother's Day: Helping the Middle Class Balance Work and Family" jumping on the bipartisan approval of family caregiving in the wake of the Ann "never worked a day in her life" Romney hoo-ha.  After praising motherhood and idealizing mothers, I expect the committee will waste no time splitting along party lines.  One side will argue that working families need employment that fits their caregiving duties, the other contending that any such changes will sink American enterprise, put employers out of business, and lead to layoffs at the worst possible time. 

MOTHERS founder and The Price of Motherhood   author Ann Crittenden was interviewed on the Fox Business Network about "the most demanding and the most important job in the world".  You can watch the  4 minute video interview, in which the "Catch 22" of mothering is raised and Ann refutes the notion that women are abandoning the working world to be full-time mothers at home.

The Presidential election inches closer.  It's shaping up to be a contest between two views of government, as either the means to a fairer society, or the barrier to prosperity and economic growth.  Which view will women support?  Most mothers work outside the home, and as primary caregivers, are more affected by our lack of paid leave and paid sick days.   Yet historically, women do not all vote the same way or share the same political sentiments.  Some mothers stay home from choice.  Some stay home because their jobs simply don't allow the time to take a sick child to the doctor.  When the candidates are neck and neck, will the need for women's votes encourage them to jump into the political gender gap?  NPR surveys the landscape with this radio feature. 

You may think that your time as a caregiver will end when your kids grow up.  Not so - most of us will spend more time looking after parents, spouses, or elderly relatives than we've spent caring for our children.  In addition to the motherhood penalty, a recent  MetLife study shows that adult daughters will lose on average an additional $324,000 in pensions, income, and Social Security benefits due to shorter work hours or more years out of the labor force after the age of 50.  Our policies are not designed for workers who have family responsibilities.  Since most of this work is done by women, we bear a considerable cost.  It may be free labor to society, and to the care recipient - but it is certainly not free to the caregiver. 

• Last minute Mother's Day gift can support hundreds of mothers. 

  Enroll a special mother in your life in the NAMC's Scroll of Honor and she'll get a lovely Mother's Day card acknowledging your donation.

• San Francisco will be the site for this weekend's  Making Mothers Visible project. 
• You'll howl at this YouTube mother-themed parodysung to "Bohemian Rhapsody".
• Ali Smith's meditation on motherhood is called "Momma Love", and part of the forthcoming book "How the Mother Half Lives".  Be reminded of the life force that flows through you and the power that you are.

Happy Mother's Day.

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