the errand of angels is given to women

 Recently Thought Catalog published this article about mommy bloggers. I have kind of stopped reading Thought Catalog, and not just because of this article. For every smart, witty and hilarious article there is on TC, there's 15 melodramatic, repetitive annoying ones to match. Like how many times can you complain about being a 20-something? We get it, our lives are hard. And they sooo are. I'm not disagreeing. This is not my point. My point is mommy blogs. I read this article and LOL-ed several times. The part about MILFS and Adderall? GOLD. A lot of this article is true I think. These mommy blogs are quite literally a smorgasbord of high definition photos of young mothers toting their annoyingly well-dressed toddlers around posh cities with the occasional "date nite w hubby" pic. As a reader, you're kind of like... sooo what do you do all day? But that's just it. What they do is motherhood, which is the hardest job in the world. And that is what disturbed me about this article.

We sing a hymn in church called "As Sisters in Zion" and one of the lines is, "The errand of angels is given to women." It's one of my favorite song lyrics of all time because it verbalizes the unique and divine role of women. I think of all the women in my life who have been examples to me and they are really angels on earth. Being a mother is hard azz work. I wouldn't know, but I do know how annoying I am and how annoying children of all ages can be. After a long day of babysitting, it is so nice to be able to leave the children at the end and go on your merry way. Being a mother is having those long days everyday, no breaks, no pay.

I know Thought Catalog published this article to be funny. I get that. I roll my eyes when I see another mommy blog pop up on my Tumblr feed. I'm flabbergasted when Naomi Davis gets 450 likes on her Instagram of her baby's feet within 1 minute of posting (what even?) But you better believe I'm clicking that 'like' button too. I'm not mad at Thought Catalog or discrediting the publication. I am saying that this article got it wrong. Being a mother is not just yoga and J.Crew and baby Instagrams. Motherhood is the essential fiber of our society. It's what stops people from doing stupid things. It's what molds people into doing extraordinary things. 

These women manage to raise children in a society that mocks their decision everyday. Do you know how hard it is to raise a child? I don't. I'm scared as hell for the day I become a parent. These women have this scary responsibility and manage to do it while successfully making delicious and pretty dinners, maintaining a healthy relationship with their cute husbands and looking bomb while doing so. Why wouldn't you want to share that with people? Mommy bloggers, here is a quote from one of the greats:

"Yours is the grand tradition of Eve, the mother of all the human family, the one who understood that she and Adam had to fall in order that "men [and women] might be" and there would be joy. Yours is the grand tradition of Sarah and Rebekah and Rachel, without whom there could not have been those magnificent patriarchal promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob which bless us all. Yours is the grand tradition of...the mothers of the 2,000 stripling warriors. Yours is the grand tradition of Mary, chosen and foreordained from before this world was, to conceive, carry and bear the Son of God Himself. We thank all of you, including our own mothers, and tell you there is nothing more important in this world than participating so directly in the work and glory of God, in bringing to pass the mortality and earthly life of His daughters and sons, so that immortality and eternal life can come in those celestial realms on high-" Jeffrey R. Holland

Thank you Thought Catalog for your article. It made me laugh but it also made me think about the incredible women and mothers in my life. Thank you mommy bloggers. I roll my eyes at you, but deep down, I just want to be you.