SENIOR MOMENT: Motherhood requires change, toughness

By BETTY MUNSEY/Columnist

Older senior citizens remember waking to find their mothers stoking the kitchen wood stove in preparation for making homemade baking powder biscuits for breakfast.  Thick slices of country ham were frying on the back stove eye while freshly sliced apples were stewing in a well-worn saucepan. Metal lunch boxes lined the sideboard waiting to be filled in assembly-line fashion with pint Mason jars full of icy cold milk, hot biscuits overflowing with spoonfuls of homemade blackberry jelly, and an apple or pear depending upon which was in season.
Mothers’ days were long and the chores many as they cared for their families. While her husband was away at work feeling privileged to earn a dollar a day in wages as a laborer, she was home tending to the babies, the garden, and often the farm animals. It was a common practice for several generations to share the same home, especially if it was considered the family home place.
World War II altered the image of the American mother.  With the men away defending our country, limited finances and a sense of patriotism led mothers to seek employment outside their homes in factories and businesses. Times were tough, especially on mothers, who often struggled to be the sole family breadwinner while maintaining close family ties with her children and extended families.  Divorce rates gradually began to escalate.
Those of us who witnessed our mothers in action during this period, found them toughened yet resilient. They knew how to stretch the almighty dollar by adding patches over existing patches on hand-me-down clothes, reupholstering threadbare furniture, and canning every available ounce of garden produce. Aprons covered slacks more often than housedresses.  TV dinners, box mixes and processed meats became meal time staples. Mothers struggled to emulate the all-American mother image projected in the highly popular weekly television program, “Father Knows Best” while knowing that such a role was highly unrealistic.
I was a young mother during the minivan, grab-it-and-go time period. American society had become more mobile with family units scattered not only across county lines but often across state lines as well. Grandmothers were no longer right around the corner or down the block to share their experience and time proven advice. Young parents read and reread Dr. Spock’s child rearing book and quickly found that nothing is better than practical experience when dealing with children.
Today’s mothers are often older, more career minded, and truly health conscious. They may jog around the block after work with one or more of their young children strapped into a jogging stroller. Their pockets are probably filled with wet wipes, cell phones, an extra disposable diaper, an i-Pod, and perhaps a pressurized bottle of pepper spray for self defense. A nanny may provide in-home childcare for a hefty price. Less privileged modern mothers scurry from home to work, dropping children off at daycare or school along the way. They worry about making ends meet and finding time for all their responsibilities.  Finding time for themselves is something they hope to find in their retirement years.
Dedication to their family’s well-being and the ability to respond efficiently and effectively to different demands continues to the predominant cornerstone of successful motherhood. Hats off and a special thank you to mothers everywhere, everyday!
A retired Extension agent, Betty Munsey lives and farms in Bland County.