Uncomfortable: Parenting | My Mom the Superwoman – Holding Down the Fort while Dad Played Pilot

Behind every great man, is an even greater woman. And that Superwoman, is my Mom.
While my Dad was being a Professional Badass (see Uncomfortable: My Dad the Professional Badass – Growing up with a Lieutenant Colonel), my Mom was the one holding down the fort with two kids. And for any woman who has done this, you know it’s not always an easy task.

My brother and I are only a year and a half apart, and while my Dad instilled some very strong beliefs into my brother and I – my Mom is the one who made sure we adhered to said beliefs and truths. Dad was hours away from being deployed to the Gulf War when Mom was pregnant with me. But, she knew what she had signed up for and she didn’t say a damn word while Dad was begging to do whatever job he could do to go fight in the War.

Over the years, my Mom has become my best friend. She told me the other day that she knows more than she probably should, and she may be right about that. But, there is something very refreshing about having such an open relationship with your Mom. I literally talk to her about everything and somehow, Moms, miraculously always seem to have the right answer. Does your Mom have that magic too?

Your relationship with your Mom is always different than the relationship with your Dad. And while my Dad is the one who my brother and I had our little tag line with, my Mom was the one teaching us what that tag line meant. She was an amazing example of courage and respect.
She is the wife of a military pilot, a man who goes off to war, and can be gone for months at a time. Many women, cannot handle this, point blank – it is no small, or easy task… The courage she showed when Dad was deployed and the respect she showed, and continues to show, for their relationship is unsurpassed.

She taught us what integrity and character mean – and more importantly, what it also means, when your character or integrity are compromised. That is one of the most important lessons you can learn as a child.
If a person has no character and/or integrity, then they’re nothing.
I’m not going to sugar coat that, it’s supposed to be harsh… And clearly, that’s not verbatim what Mom said to us, but it’s what she taught us.

My Mom has helped shaped me into the woman that I am today; because of her strength and her leadership I have become the strong, independent woman that I am. She raised two kids while Dad was off “piloting“. She finished her college degree while she was pregnant with me – I was 6 months old when she graduated. She ran more than a few businesses when we were young – Tupperware and Take and Bake Pizza type companies. She is the epitome of drive and determination.

Besides the monumental point I am about to make, this is more of a thank you blog to her than anything. I don’t think any of us tell our Mothers, often enough, how much they mean to us. My Mom, is one heck of a role model and I am honored to be her daughter.

The lesson in all of this is, and my “monumental point” is about upbringing.
It is our responsibility to raise our children with high standards; to set the bar for them to be able to achieve, and over achieve.

If children don’t understand respect, how can we expect them to respect others?
If children don’t know what integrity is, how we can expect them to have any principles?
If children don’t learn strength, how do they know if they’re being strong?
If children don’t see courage, how can we expect them to act courageously and/or selflessly?

Where did we go wrong? What turn took us off the respectful path, and onto this disrespectful sideshow we are on today? And although the youth of the world is pretty horrendous (is it really ALL their fault though, or is it their upbringing?), my generation and my parents generation aren’t all sunshine and rainbows either…

 When did please and thank you become something other than the norm?
When did holding a door open for someone become such a scarcity?
When did showing respect for you elders, or coworkers, become a thing for the history books?
WHY do we think we can treat each other this way and that it’s okay?!
IT IS NOT OKAY!!! >:-/

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Let’s get REAL about the loss of integrity and character in society.
Let’s get uncomfortable, and speak openly, about the lack of respect we show one another, and the need for change.