To Mothers - And our best ideas to celebrate them.

As Mother’s Day dawns, I’d like to take a minute to talk about Jerry Seinfeld.

He has an episode-defining joke that pokes fun at men’s ability to attract women. He talks about how men know they want women, but that’s about it. And, as a result, men will sometimes foolishly honk car horns or whistle and yell from construction sites. “These are the best ideas we’ve had so far,” Seinfeld quips.

That’s kind of how I feel about Mother’s Day. We know moms. Most of us have one or two. We revere them. But how could we ever begin to meaningfully acknowledge the love, commitment, and sacrifice that most mothers provide?

Granted, we do have better ideas to celebrate mothers than we do to attract women. Cards, candy, flowers, slippers, doing the dishes, not golfing for a weekend - these are much more honorable and less objectifying efforts than horn honking and whistling.

Think about Mothers in the context of a business negotiation.

Mother: I will give you my body, my soul, my money, my provisions and anything you need for the remainder of my life.

Child: I will bring you breakfast in bed and flowers one day a year. I will likely burn the toast and the eggs may be runny. Did I mention I ate half the donut already?

Nobody makes that deal. Nobody.

And yet, when it comes to motherhood, billions of women step up and deliver on that promise day in, day out each year. I have been surrounded by these kind of women my whole life. It is awe-inspiring.

And most mothers don’t just make that crazy deal, they deliver on it in countless, nuanced ways.

There is grandmother love, which can even come in great-grand form and be as comforting as chocolate chip cookies. Not just because grandmothers are wonderfully good at spoiling their grandchildren with sweets, treats, bonus snuggles and more, but because it’s like bonus generations of love, comfort and support. Not only are many of us lucky enough to have an incredible mother, many are often also gifted with these superhuman-like grandmothers as well. They can do it all and they often come bearing cookies.

There is mother love, which is the deepest of commitments. The “you can live in my womb love.” The “body, soul, provisions, whatever you need and nothing less love.” While mothers may be very good at baking chocolate chip cookies, they can’t just focus there. Mothers need to bring joy, love and support while also instilling values, discipline and knowledge. It’s an incredible balance that demands a delicate, loving touch. Mother’s love is the gift of a lifetime, and somehow it finds a way to reverberate even beyond that.

There is also what I’ll call wife love. It’s the, I will be the mother of your child and go through all of this so we can have a family together love. It’s the, I will do all this knowing damn well YOU will burn the toast each and eat some of the donut kind of love. It’s an incredible gift to love someone so much you’re willing to team up with them and create a human life you love even more. It’s an immeasurable gift really, but that’s mothers for you. 

And there are other mothers. Some adopt, some guide as loving aunts, some do the whole parenting thing solo. Anyone who is willing to commit their life to a child and then deliver on that commitment can play a motherly role. Awe-inspiring, each and every one of you.

As you enjoy your special Mother’s Day this year, I hope you can recognize those of us working to honor you by doing our best. We could send you on an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii and it still wouldn’t be enough to repay you for all you do.

And since the trip to Hawaii doesn’t come close to equivalent payment, we won’t do it. We’ll stick to the cards, candy, flowers, runny eggs and sappy 600-wordish essays - these are the best ideas we have.

That’s how we’ll honor the incredible mothers we know. That’s how I’ll work to celebrate the incredible wife, mother and grandmothers who bring never-ending joy to my life. 

I know it’s not even close to what you deserve, but it might give Jerry Seinfeld new material.

Happy Mother’s Day. More soon….