I was checking the web for an idea for a Mother’s Day column.
I found a conference touting itself as, “The ultimate gathering of the world’s most influential women.”
There were seven speakers listed there, a great source of inspiration I thought.
However, a further check of their bios revealed only one of the presenters was a mother.
Now, I’m not saying you have to be a mother to be influential or successful, but I do believe motherhood experiences could have added to their presentations.
For instance, one lady spoke on ‘The Secrets of Successful Women Investors.’
As a high-level financial editor she no doubt knows where to put your money to double it or more.
But has she ever saved from her part time job for a trip to Disneyland?
Had she had the experience of keeping the cupboards full of groceries, the kids’ drawers full of clothes, ran the household and still had extra money hidden in her purse, her jewelry box or a jar somewhere, she may have added some very valuable tips on successful money management.
A ‘Stress Management Expert’ spoke on how to ‘Lighten up and reframe your thoughts’ to relieve stress.
If she had ever been up all night with child number one screaming with an earache, only to have child number two wake up and start teething, her suggestions of taking time for yourself with a spa treatment may not be applicable here.
A lady recognized as a ‘Warrior Philosopher’ spoke on Strategic Thinking – Do Less, Achieve More.
OK, now let’s put her in the strategic position of getting one child to baseball, one to piano and one to the orthodontist, in three different parts of town 10 minutes apart and see if she can still “use Eastern wisdom to solve life’s ever-changing challenges.”
How about the lady giving the Leadership/Motivation seminar?
It was dealing with ‘Handling Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions.”
She could probably benefit from a few years of trying to get teenagers out of bed, dressed and off to school five days a week.
The constant repeating of, ‘Because I’m your Mother’ as an answer to almost anything, would not only clarify leadership but instill motivation as well.
A fashion model who survived the Boxing Day tsunami was speaking on Overcoming Adversity and how she made it back to the cover of Vanity Fair after serious injury.
Admirable, no doubt, a true survivor, but if she had ever had the flu the same time as the rest of the family but ‘overcame adversity’ to empty the puke bowls, change the sheets, wipe the bums and make soup for her sick husband, helping the less fortunate in the world may take on a new light.
One of those sacrifices these ladies made was children and I won’t speculate on how or why that came to be, but we can be thankful that our Mothers become experts at all of the above.
At least that’s what McGregor says.