Invention Mama

Posted by Tisha Tolar on July 2, 2009

Interesting that even the great philosopher’s knew that it’s the moms that rock this world. Case in point, the phrase “Necessity, who is the Mother of Invention” (Plato, The Republic -Greek author & philosopher in Athens 427 BC – 347 BC) . Note that Plato did not use the term ‘father’ – and for good reason.

We moms do it all. Granted there are still those who can fathom hitting, hurting, or God forbid – killing their children or other loved ones – but I believe those people have always been a few protons short of atom or had mothers themselves who did not do right by their family. Mothers typically are expected to do it all and the moms that I know are definitely willing to do it. We work, we clean, we organize, we play, we love…each and every day. Sure, it’s not easy but definitely rewarding.

I write all this as my butt is dragging across the floor as if I was a dog with an itch. My work, volunteer work, social engagements, family commitments, and trip planning are all kicking my ass in the same week. Not to mention the kid’s birthday is next week and I’ve only just remembered to do something about it. It’s hectic, especially because for at least 18 hours of the day I am working to keep my at-home career job going and improving and at the same time, planning tactics to sell my first novel (due soon). At the same time, I’ve become a travel agent for 8 for a trip in exactly 87 days. And – to add to the mix, I’ve been co-planning a fundraising dance, and got suckered…I mean,,, volunteered to be the kid’s co-soccer coach with practices beginning in August – yeah, like next month! Oh – did I mention – school is out, camp is over, and my daughter has a natural reflexive action to open her mouth and jabber each and every time I turn my attention to the computer?

So, remember mom- Plato was a pretty damn smart person. He said necessity is the MOTHER of invention – not the grandpa or the uncle or the cousin. Mother. Just take a look at my current schedule and tell me you can’t find it in yourself to at least try to make a new situation work for you. It’s now July, a great time to plan for your big jump when school resumes. If you don’t even have kids to care for at home anymore, not much else is stopping you. While times may be rough now career-wise because of the blessed (cursed) work-life balance, I know that with every seed I am planting today (in between the loads of laundry), I am setting myself and my family up for a better future. What I struggle for today, will reward me later. It won’t happen overnight but it will happen.

I’ll leave you with the inspiration for this post: Next week is the kid’s seventh birthday. Since this is her last week of camp, I offered (silly me) to bake cupcakes for the kids so she could at least celebrate among friends since school is out. On top of the 1,001 things on my to do list today, I figured I’d start working then break to make cupcakes. Lo and behold, I am baking cupcakes for 24 and had exactly 21 cupcake cups. Referring to Plato, I racked my brain cells and came up with a brillllliiiant idea (think Blair on the Facts of Life). I made 12 cupcakes and a 9″ cake. Cut the cupcakes in half and made a flower cake instead! I even took a picture to show you my inventiveness. (see below)

We EM bloggers hope you and your family and friends have a wonderful Independence Day! Think about how much you’d like to free yourself and then do something about it!!

Related Posts

• Mom Guilt: It’s a Heartbreaker
• Balance House Work With Work At Home
• How I Plan to Work During the Summer…At Home…With the Kid
• Work-At-Home Discipline: Find Some
• It’s Coming: A Good Reason To Go For It
• Overwhelming Workload – Yes! You Can Do It
• Bright-Eyed and Bushy Tailed and it’s Only Monday Morning