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Everyday Heros

Motherhood can be a thankless job. There is always one more dish to wash, one more shirt to iron, one more load of laundry to fold. Usually mealtime is more like feeding time at the zoo than a relaxing event to nourish and energize, and I often end up feeling like a short order chef with everyone’s requests and specifications. Everyone wants what they want when they want it, and only mom will do.

I’ve been known to joke that I’m going to change my name if I hear “mom…” one more time!

When I was growing up, my mom worked fulltime outside the home, she made home-cooked meals from scratch, did all our laundry and ironing, and drove us to all our various music lessons and sports practices and orthodontist appointments. She never missed a recital or a ball game or a performance that I can recall. And she did all this while keeping the house in order and with no grandparents around to help share the load.

Sometimes when I’m in the thick of it, I stop and think about my own mom and how much I took her for granted. I cringe when I remember how hard I was on her at times — when she was 10 minutes late getting home from work or when dinner wasn’t exactly what I wanted, you’d think it was a personal affront. Oh I could dish an attitude, you have no idea.

I had no clue the juggling act that went on just to keep our household afloat. As a mom myself now, I find myself on the flip side. My kids are getting older and more vocal in their demands, and now I’m the one juggling the housework and the homework and the errands and the work and the shuttling to and from lessons and sports and school. When my kids express their impatience and dissatisfaction, I’m the one struggling to keep all the balls in the air without losing my cool.

I look around, and moms everywhere are doing their thing, day in and day out, with hardly ever a word of thanks. Most moms I know put everyone else first and sacrifice their wants and desires to give their children what they need and want.

Moms are the everyday heros that you will hardly ever see on the news or hear of their sacrificial acts through the rumor mill. When AllState asked me to share my hero mom story, I thought about the moms in my life and I decided that motherhood by its very nature is a heroic act.

After all, what is a greater sacrifice than carrying a child in your womb, nourishing him with your own body, and putting yourself aside to give him all he needs to grow and develop into an independent adult, and then letting him go to live his own life and make his own path. It is the ultimate selfless act. (Not to belittle those adoptive moms who did not carry their children in their own bodies — we all sacrifice ourselves for our children in one form or another.)

I can only hope that once my kids are grown and out on their own, they will realize, as I finally have, the hero their mother is. And even if they don’t, I suppose I would do it all over again.

Perhaps you know a heroic mom or see one when you look in the mirror. Share your story and be entered for a chance to win $2,500 cash from Allstate. Plus four runner-ups will receive a $100 Visa Gift Card. *The five finalists will be chosen from the Entries receiving the most votes.  

One of the most important things any mom can do is purchase life insurance. Allstate has been helping to protect families’ futures with a range of life insurance products for over 50 years. To get a quote visit allstate.com/life.

Disclosure: This is post is Sponsored by Allstate. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. Official Contest Rules

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One Response

  1. Amen, JL! I think of my Mom often too when I’m trying to juggle it all and the kids are shouting at me for another juice/snack/insert random demand. Moms are unthanked heros! This is a sweet post – I bet your Mom loves it! 😉