Erma Bombeck, the queen of all mothers, said it best when she wrote her Mother's Day 1974 column entitled “When God Created Mothers.” If you haven't read it, I recommend you do because it is so true.
Mothers do need six pairs of hands, three sets of eyes, as well as the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon and the ability to know when to use each of these, sometimes all at once.
We need the extra hands (and arms) to hold all our children when we're crossing a street while we let them think they're guiding us. We need them when they're wounded or just need a hug when their feelings get hurt. We need the extra eyes to keep them from getting injured or to keep them out of trouble. We need them so we can see when they need us to be understanding without having to ask.
We need patience, wisdom and the detective skills of Sherlock Holmes when trying to sort out who's telling the truth and who's fibbing. The extra eyes would come in handy here, too.
We could use a sixth sense to know which one of our kids' friends will be the ones who'll be the most trouble when puberty hits. Or when they need something, but they're afraid to come out and ask.
We need patience to listen to our kids when they go into a long, drawn-out explanation as to why it's not their turn to (fill in the blank). Or when the younger ones are trying to sound out a word while reading a book to you that you know they know by heart since you've read it to them at bedtime about a thousand times. But you smile patiently and with pride when they finally 'get it'.
Mothers sometimes have to fight the urge not to laugh as our babies try to explain how they got themselves and the dog covered from head to toe in mud or worse, but it wasn't their fault. We have to keep our hands firmly at our sides, so we won't take the spatula away and do it ourselves as we watch our child frost a cake by themselves for the first time. The pride in their accomplishment says it all. What does it matter if there's a few holes in the cake and more frosting on one side? It'll all taste the same. Mothers must have the wisdom to know when to not refold the towels or napkins our kids proudly hand us as they try to help with the laundry lest we crush their little spirits. Does it really matter if the towels aren't folded just the way you do it? Will the world come to an end because they missed a spot while vacuuming the rug? Is the day going to be ruined if they don't put the silverware or the pots and pans where you store them, so you don't have to spend an hour trying to find them? Bending down to dig everything out to find where they put them is good exercise.
Teaching them how to do things like baking a cake or playing a game is what makes it all worthwhile. And sometimes we have to get down on the ground and be a kid, too, so we can see the world through their eyes. The rewards are endless.
We are rewarded with the admiration they shower us with. All these things apply to grandparents as well. We, too, need to keep the skills we honed as mothers, so we don't forget to carry them on when our grandchildren start arriving.
Our grandchildren are at an age where they think there's nothing Nana and Papa can't do, make, or fix. I have some of them fooled into thinking there's nothing they can do that I won't see or hear about. Of course, that's mostly the younger ones. I have the boys convinced I have 'magic' fingers since I can open my iPhone with one touch, and they can't. They still haven't figured that one out but not for a lack of trying, especially on the part of the six-year-old. He's a hoot. I have them convinced I haven't lost the ability cure their stomachache or heal a broken bone with a kiss and a hug. The girls are old enough now to know I'm 'full of it’ but the boys are young enough to keep falling for it for a few more years.
In the overall scheme of things, the most important thing we mothers and grandmothers need is a heart big enough to hold all the love we have for all our kids and grandkids. That's the easy part.
Happy Mother's Day! (And Grandmothers, too!)