There are so many events going on out there in the world that so many of us don't know about, but should.
One such event is the yearly competition sponsored by American Mothers Inc. for Young Mother of the Year. It's kind of like a beauty pageant except that most of the contestants are overweight, dress like they're still living in the early nineties, and have special talents like crock-pot cooking and saving money by making home-made stain remover. So really, it's not anything like a beauty pageant at all.
To qualify to be nominated for the Young Mother of your state, you must have children under the age of 18, be married to a man (I believe he's supposed to be the father of your children), and be an active member of a faith-based organization. As I looked at a list of Young Mother contenders for 2011, I realized it also helps to be Mormon, as over half the women on the list appeared to be. Things that would disqualify you from being able to compete for best mother ever include the following: being a single mom who raises children all by herself, being a lesbian whose children have two moms, or being a mother who doesn't take her children to church at least once a week.
I learned about this esteemed group of women while watching a documentary on Hulu called "The Good Mother." The filmmaker followed the daily lives of several of the women who had won the title in their state and were preparing to go to the national level to compete with each other for the title of Young Mother of the Year. At this event, they got to dress up for dinner; listen to speeches encouraging them to put all their hearts into mothering and make a difference in the lives of those around them; make their own speeches to convince the anonymous judges that they had what it took to win the title; talk to each other about their children; and most exciting of all, they got to watch entertaining acts like a a group of eighty-year old women wearing shimmery blue leotards and silver dance shoes do the Can-Can.
At the end, only one woman could take home the title. The mother who won had been a successful professional who felt confident and respected in her job. When she gave birth to her first son, she gave all that up for her new job as mother, admitting that she felt completely unqualified for this new task in front of her. Out of all the women who were highlighted in the documentary, she certainly made an impression on me. She displayed her amazing mothering skills on video as her young daughter cried and cried over nothing while her mother stood watching her, waiting for her to stop. Even more impressive was the part in the video when her son came up to show her something, and she looked up at him for a moment with complete disinterest, then turned back to what she was doing without saying a single word to her son. She showed that she had the tired, stressed, I-just-don't-even-care-anymore attitude down, and sometimes that's what it takes to be Top Mom.
I'm just glad that I watched this documentary so that if I become a mother someday, I'll know how not to get nominated for Young Mother of Oregon, so I won't feel compelled to go to a national gathering to listen to people talk about motherhood. And hopefully, if I'm a bad enough mother, I'll be saved from ever having to personally witness a leotard-clad eighty-year old woman dancing.
*Important Disclaimer: I love my mother!
