A photo my mom chose for this post of us from 1999!

A photo my mom chose for this post of us from 1999!

Today, on Mother’s Day, I’m here in Disney World at the Disney Social Media Moms conference, while my mom will be celebrating her day with my sisters, not me. So, although we aren’t together today, I want her to know how much I love her.  I want her to know that even though there are many things we see eye-to-eye on, as well as, some things we don’t, she has been my biggest influence in life and part of the reason why I am here.

She taught me that if something isn’t being done for you and you want it done, then you have to get up and do it yourself.  You see, there was a time that she wanted the hedges cut in our backyard and my dad wouldn’t have time to do it himself, so she would tell me to get my sneakers on, and she’d be out there using a large electric hedge trimmer on a ladder, and I’d be raking the leaves and branches below her. We got the job done together before dad got home from work.

Or when she needed a room painted, I would help her.  Or when she needed the bathrooms cleaned — that was my job every Saturday morning.  Or the lawn mowed…you get the picture. My dad did a lot, but mom always wanted stuff done straight away, and still does!

She taught me that there doesn’t have to be any time spent waiting around. That I should just roll up my sleeves and get the job done, if it was something important to me.  I apply what she taught me today to running World Moms Blog with our editing team.  When there’s something that we see that needs to be done in the world, we consult our fellow World Moms, roll up our sleeves and find a way to get the job done.

Here we are, over 50 of us from around the world, running a global website that we all feel like the world needs, as we tell the stories of mothers around the world. We are getting to know each other, learning our differences and embracing our commonalities. We are pointing out things that we want changed in the world or finding ways in how we can deal with them as they are through our voices. We are also breaking the barriers of “us” versus “them.” And on the path to creating just an “us”.

So, Mom, I’m at this amazing Disney conference, rolling up my sleeves and getting the job done and working on this project I started with the help of many amazing moms.  And, I want you to know that I’m so glad that we cut those hedges together when I was a kid, even though I probably didn’t want to. And I promise that although it may not be by operating large power tools on a ladder, I will find a way to pass this gift you gave me to my daughters. You can count on that.

Love, Jen

Today, in many countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated. World Moms Blog sends a virtual hug out to all the mothers, present, miles away and who have passed on. And we thank them for the difference they are making or have made in a child’s life because it is, in turn, the difference they are making in the planet’s future. 

*This post is being linked up to our contributor Nicole Morgan’s blog, Sisters From Another Mister for the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, which advocates for vaccines for children who need them most!

http://www.sistersfromanothermister.com/?p=6815

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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