Every day we read or hear stories of heroic actions, such as rescue operations, successful open heart surgeries, unique innovations in science and in the telecommunications industry. We are full of admiration for the people who put themselves at risk, go over their personal limits and try tirelessly to achieve something extraordinary for the common good.

We even have established organisations that celebrate these successes by giving awards and medals to amazing acts of heroism and bravery. This is all great news, but have we ever looked a little closer to home? Have we ever thought of the heroic actions we, as mothers, perform every day?

Any mother who juggles getting 2-3 or more kids ready every day for school in the morning and has them all washed, dressed and fed, with lunch boxes ready and at school on time is a hero! I only have one child and there are mornings that to get my son out of bed and get him ready on time requires the same diplomacy skills that I would use in the UN to negotiate increased funding for the war stricken areas of the world…and all this at 06:00 am  when I have just opened my eyes 🙂

Getting the kids ready in the morning is only the tip of the iceberg. The ‘rescue operation’ starts where the mother, like me, is a working mum who needs to also get herself ready for work and tidy up the whole house at the same time and be out of the door by 07:15. By the way this mum needs to be nicely dressed and well groomed in the morning too! These mums, who have no help at home and juggle it all by themselves run the ‘rescue operation’ at the speed of light every morning. Here is just a tiny sampler of morning challenges: [the list is truly so big that I need to write a book on the subject!]

-Clean up the ‘war zone’ of clothes, underwear, slippers, socks, magazines, post, ipads, mobile phone cables and other personal belongings that the husband has scattered around the house the night before. It is amazing how quickly men can fill up the floor with stuff in just an hour before they fall asleep! [ Tip of the day- show the little boys this mess and encourage them to make a mental note to not be like this when they are adults. Even better, get them to help you pick it all up and put back at its place, and then the mental note will register! ]

-Prepare breakfast simultaneously with emptying the dishwasher and cleaning the mess of biscuit crumbs and chocolate pieces laying on the floor as well as chairs and sofas from ‘the- during- the night- kitchen- invasion’. Big man of the house once again had cravings and without his’ survivor night vision goggles’ was unable to locate the co-ordinates of plates or napkins!

…and the day goes on…and I have been watching some of these working mums doing the school run with kids, babies and dogs on tow – they need to be walked too! Here is a true story. Heroic multi-tasking in its best form:

baby in pram;  one toddler trying to push the pram while devouring a muesli bar; dog attached to the handle bar staring at balloon baby has in hand; mother trying to push all of the above across the street and negotiate pedestrian and cyclists’ traffic while trying to hold yet another toddler by the hand. Right in the middle of the pedestrian crossing, toddler number two decides to grab balloon from baby’s hand and run free in open traffic direction, while baby screams hysterically and rattles the pram where toddler number one is holding onto –  resulting in the muesli bar falling in the street. Toddler number one is now screaming as the dog has snapped and eaten the fallen muesli bar and chaos and disorder  takes over the ‘peaceful start’ to the day. Mother tries to follow runaway toddler number one, calm down screaming baby who is trying to jump off the stroller in an effort to follow runaway balloon while watching dog (still attached to the pram) running off after the balloon too!!! …and all this is happening amidst honking from car drivers who as well are caught into the morning rush fever…

Are you stressed already by just reading this?? There is a happy end though. This mum managed to control the situation, no one got injured, made it to work with her nerves shuttered but regardless put herself back together, walked into the operation room and gave a patient an open-heart surgery.

In my books, she deserves a medal!!! Yes, ladies…no matter what, we can do it! and we should be proud of ourselves! We can raise great kids, work like men do – and more, keep our households tidy and look great at the same time.

Cheers to all heroic mums out there! …and if any men are reading this…please, do remember to pat your wives on the back from time to time and show them love and appreciation. They deserve it!

Yours,

Diana Z

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