A Mother’s Voice: Our Best Weapon Against Violence

I am fed up. I am devasted. I don’t understand why. The world we live in is a dangerous place. What’s unbelievably sad and tragic is I have felt this way time and time before. It happened after the tragedies in Turkey, Orlando, Charleston, Paris, San Bernardino and the list goes on and on. I read the stories. I see the shocked posts and angry, divisive rants on social media. My head spins and my heart hurts but eventually life goes back to normal because the bottom line is I feel powerless.

I am just a mom. I am a white mom living a “privileged” life. What do I know? What can I do? Who will listen to me? Today I realized that’s the problem. These tragedies affect everyone, yet so many of us are shrinking away from the responsibility and the opportunity we have to do something. Mothers can fight violence. Mothers can bring about change. Mothers, use your voice to change the world one word at a time.  

Stay Informed

I know we want to protect our children from this world. I get it, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t read the news. We can’t hide from what is happening. It can be overwhelming and downright depressing but what is worse than being ignorant of the world around us? Change comes from knowing the facts, reviewing the situation, weighing the options and looking for a solution. We are electing a new president this fall–arguably the most important decision of the next four years. Don’t kid about not voting at all. People in this world are still fighting for this right, how dare we take it for granted. Even if you don’t love the choices, the reality is one of them will win, and we must make an informed decision. Social media has changed the news world but be careful using it as the only news source. Why is it that more people accept friendships, share and like the most random things but so few people actually research the news? Don’t use motherhood as an excuse to be ignorant of the world around you.

Unite Don’t Fight

There are so many big issues in our world today–guns, racism, gay marriage, terrorism just to name a few. People feel very passionately about these hot topic issues. I feel passionate about this–our world is a broken one. We need to come together to fix it. Let’s focus on compromise. Surely we can find something to agree on if it changes lives. Yes, we will have to give some to get some, but that is life. A baby step is better than nothing. We must start somewhere. We need to start listening to each other not yelling at each other. It is possible to disagree with someone and find common ground. It takes work but please don’t let us be a generation afraid to work for the common good.

Mother

We are not just mothers. Mother is a verb too and mothering well, mothering justly and mothering with love can be the most powerful things in the world. We are molding the future right now. Our children won’t know that all lives matter if we don’t teach and show them. Our children won’t know how to compromise if we are not willing to do it ourselves. Our children will not know that revenge is not justice if we don’t say so. We need to invest in our children, and I’m not just talking about saving for their college funds. Modeling empathy, perseverance, and love are game changers. Let your children see you struggle, wrestle with problems in life so they won’t feel alone, insecure, angry or resentful when disappointment, failure, and conflict happens to them. Show them it is never too late to change.

Opinions, conversations, and even blog posts are good, but we can’t stop there. Your day may be consumed with diapers, play dates, homework and grocery shopping but change can still happen inside our homes, through our conversations and by our own interactions with others. Moms, we must do something. Join me and speak change into our children’s lives every single day.