June 2009

President’s Podium

Although the message in last month’s Podium was important enough for me to share, it wasn’t until after May’s TwinSphere went to print that I realized as President of a mothers club, I forgot to acknowledge Mother’s Day!!   My apologies Ladies, but I have a feeling, as fellow foggy-headed mothers of twins and triplets, you either didn’t pick up on it or you forgave me of my faux pas before I even asked to be pardoned.  Thank you for your understanding…it’s one of the many things we do for each other.

Anyway, last month was our club’s biggest annual event – our dinner and fashion show gala.  As usual it was a huge success and heavily attended.  The theme for the evening was, “Women Who Shape Us”.  Estelle’s Dressy Dresses, Hair Effex of Bellmore and the women of our Fundraising team put their heads together to dress our models in fashions that were representative of particular influential women in our history.  The people chosen represented a diverse chunk of America ranging from the a hundred years ago to the present day.  Some were Hollywood figures, some political, some simply outrageous.  It was a very entertaining evening and everyone in attendance had loads of fun.  Much thanks to all of the many hands that made it happen – and a special thanks to our Fundraising team: Debbie, Julie, Elaine & Tanya.

While working on the fashion show program, my momentum came to a brief halt when I began to consider the design for the cover.  Should I stick with something that very simply represented our club?  Or something more modern depicting the famous people we chose to represent?  After a conversation I had with Mary Elizabeth Brennan, where she suggested we “not forget who we are”, I began to think of the event’s theme, “women that shape us” in a less famous, less obvious, less celebrity way.

And then it dawned on me.  I think most of us can say that the women who’ve shaped us the most profoundly in our lives thus far surely must be our grandmothers, aunts, sisters, best girlfriends…most importantly, our own mothers.

Which led me to, “Who are WE shaping?”  Let’s forget Madonna, Michelle Obama, Lucille Ball & Jacklie O.  Although influential to a certain degree, they are only ‘surface influences’ when looking at the big picture.  Let’s not be so star struck with these ladies that we forget our own celebrity in the eyes of our children.  We are absolute heroes to these little blank slates we’ve been blessed with at home, and don’t discount for a minute that every action, every word, every choice made by us isn’t deeply impressing and shaping these newest of people.

So, although we don’t make the front page or collect royalties for wiping hineys, blowing noses, cleaning up vomit, folding mountains of laundry and driving to ‘tim-buc-two’, we are in a sense, shaping the world we live in by performing THE most important of jobs…raising our children.  They will be our future clerics, politicians, therapists, doctors, lawyers, social workers, neighbors, husbands and wives.  While we want them to be good at whatever they DO, we hope first and foremost that they just will simply be happy, balanced, good people. 

Right now, today, WE are the women that shape.

:o)  Mary Grace Roach

President, NCMOTC