For the ones in the trenches

My daughter in-law hosts a raucous dance party every night. She and her tiny co-host grab their mop microphones and let loose across the dining room floor.

“We’re going up up up, it’s our moment. You know together we’re glowin’. Gonna be gonna be golden.”

A DGA member in the midst of demanding career she loves, Tara also finds time to make life fun for her husband and two little girls.

My daughter Katherine still looks at her nearly three-week old daughter as though she were an extraordinary gift she just unwrapped and can’t believe she was lucky enough to receive. She maintains this awe through sleepless nights, messy diapers, and marathon feeding sessions.

Her friend Leah has two lively little peanuts of her own, and she still found time to be an active supporter of Katherine in these early days of motherhood. She has already visited several times, sent homemade food, offered stacks of cloths, carriers, and equipment.

Another friend, Hillary, is a new mother herself, with a toddler son and an infant daughter. She has also made time to visit, offering practical tips, and wise counsel.

Here’s to mothers like them — the ones in the trenches who reach a hand out to help each other up; who understand that motherhood is a universal sisterhood and not a competition; who see and share the magic in a journey that can be fraught with stress.

I hope they and every mother enjoyed a day full of love and laughter yesterday.

I’m home now from my month-long Grandma tour and, while those little granddaughters were the star of the show, I also felt very privileged to have seen their mothers in action.

Happy belated Mothers Day them and all mothers out there raising babies in a challenging world. We see your kindness, strength, intention, hope, humor and love and we know…

you’ve got this.