Mothers matter. I could stop this commentary right there. It says it all. Moms really do matter. As we head into this weekend’s annual recognition of Mother’s Day, please know mothers, you matter.
In an age when every attempt is made to deny the differences between men and women, to downplay maleness and femaleness, it’s important that we understand that women bring unique contributions to parenting. They bring contributions that no man, no matter how hard he tries, can bring to the rearing of a child. They endear themselves to children in ways totally unlike a man—a dad—endears himself to his children.
Moms matter because in the natural order as God created it, women bear children. The child’s earliest bond is with his/her mother in utero. Scientists tell us that preborn children hear, so we know that these little ones hear the sounds of their mom’s voice. Studies have shown that a baby’s heart rate often slows in utero when they hear their mother talking, which tells us there is comfort in that sound.
Moms nurture, comfort, sympathize with, advise and discipline differently from men. Children turn instinctively to mom when the tears come, when the bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes come and later when the emotional traumas of the teen years are unleashed. That’s because moms offer wide-open arms of love and soft kisses and quiet words such as, “There, there. It’s ok. I’ll kiss it and make it all better.”
Moms cheerlead. I told a group I was speaking to this past weekend that when my mom died eleven years ago, I lost my best cheerleader—the one person I knew who would always be in my corner with an encouraging word, a constructive criticism given in love. That’s just what moms do.
Moms help girls become women and boys become men. It’s moms who put bows in little girls’ hair, who match shoes to outfits, who help teens experiment with makeup, who teach their daughters how ladies sit, talk, and interact socially. It’s moms that introduce boys to how women are, to intriguing qualities of women. It’s moms that boys grow up wanting to protect—because no one hurts a boy’s mother and gets by with it. It’s moms that listen to little boys’ dreams and encourage them that they can do whatever it is they are trying to do.
Moms aren’t dads; dads aren’t moms. That’s not how God designed it. Dads have just as important of a role as moms, but it is a different role. Both distinctive roles are critical to the upbringing of children. When we try to say that maleness and femaleness don’t matter, we are not only denying the obvious, we are also denying children of what is best for them and we are saying God’s design and plan is of no consequence. We are saying we as humans know better than God about what children need.
For years the message our organization has taken around this state is that when it comes to parenting, the magic isn’t the number two, which is what homosexual activists want people to believe. The so-called “magic” is male and female. And of course, the other part of the formula that is best for rearing children is that the one male and the one female are married to each other.
If government is really interested in the next generation of taxpayers, workers, teachers, scientists, artists, musicians, inventors, thinkers, and entrepreneurs, then it should be doing everything it can to make sure children really do have what is in their best interest. And that means having a mom and a dad who are married to each other. Government should be thinking “gold standard” not no standard when it comes to children.
I can’t imagine passing laws in our state or our nation that purposefully and legally deny a child a mother, but that’s what some think we should do. Some lawmakers, even some who say they are conservative, think we should change the law to allow two men to adopt a child. No matter how hard either of those men tries and no matter if one of them thinks he is a woman and even has an operation to try to look like a woman, he is not a woman and that means neither one can be a mom. It’s impossible. More importantly, it’s definitely not in the best interest of the child.
Moms really do matter, and government needs to get back to the basics and realize that moms matter. They give to their children what only a woman, a mom can give to children; and we are all so much better for the influence of a mother. All of us at Wisconsin Family Council thank all of you mothers. We know you matter and we wish you a blessed Mother’s Day.
