Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCLXIV

My mom should've been President. I can think of several reasons why. All she would have had to do was run the country like she ran our home. For one thing, she was a lover of peace, but if anyone tried to mess with her kids, they would soon learn that her peaceful ways had their limits. I don't mean to imply that she was constantly having to do battle on our behalf; it's just that it was understood by everyone around that her children were off limits to those who might be prone to mischief, and she meant it. Another reason my mom should have been President is the way she handled squabbles within the family. It's natural for brothers and sisters to have some strong disagreements when they are children, but when that happened in our house, she made sure we disagreed in an agreeable manner. Fighting and name-calling were strictly forbidden, and we knew it. She was the mother of the entire household, which meant we were all equal in her eyes; therefore she didn't pick a side and work with her favorite child to make the others look bad. Maybe that's because she didn't have a favorite child...she loved us all the same. Laziness was not tolerated in our home. Dad worked hard as the breadwinner and Mom worked equally as hard preparing the bread and placing it on the table, and if we wanted a place at that table, we each had our chores that had to be done. In other words, we all had to work. Mom never forced one child to give up what was rightfully his and give it to one of the other children just to make it fair. She saw no fairness in that, yet at the same time she taught us that if we had a bag of candy, we should voluntarily share with those who had none. In the lean months when Dad brought home less money, she spent less. In the more plentiful months, she would splurge a little. She never spent money she didn't have. Mom could be tough and tender at the same time, and she was not afraid to make unpopular decisions when she knew they were for the ultimate good of the home. She was an awesome mom, and her success was due to the fact that she took on the job with the right motives. The reason she left such a great legacy is because, as far as she was concerned, it was never about her legacy...it was about us. There were four of us kids that she raised from birth and made into successful adults, yet she then gave each one of us the credit for our success. If her job had been an elected position and she would have had to run for re-election, she would have thrown her hat in the ring every time, and every time she would have received 100% of the vote...even with the unpopular decisions she had to make. Yep, Mom would have made a great President, because she would've run the country like she ran our home. I don't think I've ever seen a real President do it that way. Preston