To celebrate Mother’s Day my family and I went out to brunch. Actually, it was late enough that it could have been brupper. Or maybe brinner. As we sat down at our table the waitress brought each of my three kids a card to fill out that had 10 open-ended questions about My Mom. My Mom is ______ years old. What I like best about My Mom is __________. My Mom shows me she loves me by _______________. The best thing My Mom cooks is _____________.
The cards gave us something fun and engaging to do while waiting for our food. They stimulated conversation and made us all laugh. These cute questionnaires highlighted the typical way we think about our Moms: As maternal figures who support us, love us, cook for us and clean up after us. My Mom certainly was that figure throughout my childhood. Today, my wife is that figure for our children. But there is another, far more important role that Moms play that goes mostly unnoticed by children.
As a creative professional, I recognize that our Moms don’t just raise us, care for us and love us. They Design us. From the Moment we are born, until we leave home, our Moms are designing us as the humans they want us to be. They implement rules and instill values which shape us. They expose us to people and places that stretch and expand us.
From the day you went home from the hospital your Mom chose your clothing to create an image. Your hairstyle was chosen by your Mom to reflect the person she wanted the world to see. The birthday parties she threw, the gifts she gave, and the punishments she leveled were all part of the design. The people she steered you towards and the ones she steered you away from were intential, always with the end result in mind.
Ever thought about why you lived where you lived as a child? Or why you went to the schools you went to? That was your Mom, and Dad, designing you. Those classes your Mom signed you up for each had a purpose. The musical instrument, community activities, volunteering, clubs and sports were all part of the design too.
The complicated choices she made to have pets, or not reflected her preferences for your life that may take a long time to understand. How she taught you to address adults was part of the design. Her lessons about driving, chores and how to answer the phone were part of the master plan. So were the talks about recycling and turning off the water while you brush your teeth. When she gave you money to put in the offering plate at church, that was shaping you. The decision she may have made not to attend church would have been a design decision too.
More thought went into the choices your Mom made in order to form who your are today than you will ever know. Thank you Mom for all the decisions you made to help create me according to your vision. To my wife, Dawn, thank you for sweating all of the details that help shape Ava, Johann and Magnus. They are the greatest design concepts, responsibilities and successes we will ever know.
Adam Albrecht Blog 