Long ago, when the world was a much more treacherous place to live, the barbarians had little use for the frivolous. Life was about survival. Cave mothers scuttled around in their sleeveless cave dresses because they were easy to make and easy to run in. When it was cold, they simply draped their animal skins and furs around them to keep warm. Just as our forerunners of long ago, we mothers of today have little need for the ostentatious. There isn’t time for the preparation or the upkeep it requires to be flashy and flamboyant. Practicality is definitely our bag.
Some identify the first major bookmark of civilization as the discovery of fire, or the invention of the wheel. However, the experienced mothers of today know that the true sign of civilized life was the invention of the sleeve.
What an invention, the sleeve. Before I became a mother, it was something I took for granted. Something that I wore daily and felt comfortable in when in public, but I had no idea how far reaching and life-saving this simple piece of cloth would be to my life as a mom.
Consider its usefulness: Kleenex, napkin, band-aid, tourniquet, wash rag, chamois, bath towel, and the one we’d rather not discuss…the diaper wipe. How could any mother raise kids with out this major necessity in her arsenal?
Of course the sleeve isn’t usually the first weapon we mothers look for when those messy situations arise, but sometimes you just have to make do. After all, you usually can’t find a box of tissue at a ballgame, a band-aid in the milk barn, or a roll of paper towels at your neighborhood playground. And when nature calls, you are miles from civilization, and fresh out of diaper-wipes…a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do. Thank goodness there was a spare T-shirt in the trunk.
Yes, life as a mother means being creative and resourceful, even when years of education and common sense tell you you’re crazy. Taking the shirt off your back to attend to your children is what being a mom is all about, even if it is your favorite old flannel.
And that’s All in a day’s work!
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