Mamas and babies...

This Sunday is Mothers' Day; I thought, since I don't blog on the weekends, I would take a moment today to mention mothers. Whatever you call her - Mom, Mommy, Mum, Mama, Maman or even by her first name like one of my co-workers - she totally deserves at least a day devoted entirely to her. For the longest time, women stayed home with children and it was considered, to use an unfortunate present-day corporate buzzword, a "best practice." Somehow it got twisted around and women who stayed home to take care of their families and their homes became less valued. Their contributions to society were looked at as less than those contributed by working women. 

I don't believe that's entirely fair. I'm not one to champion either Donna Reed or Gloria Steinem, but mothers on both end of the spectrum and those in the middle do a heck of a lot and give a lot of themselves to make their families go. My mother was one who landed in the middle of that range, and I happen to think she did a darn good job. She worked, raised two kids and ran a house. She is, in part, the inspiration for this blog. I very much like how I turned out, so thanks, Mom! : ) 

Stepping off my soapbox now, the rest of this blog is devoted to the reason women can be classified as mothers - babies and children. 

East Side Elementary in Oklahoma were chosen among 13 sites across the country to participate in "Planting for Success" in conjunction with The Home Depot Foundation and Arbor Day Foundation. Read all the way to the bottom of the article - I promise it's short - to see the adorable reasons children think trees are important. (sunonline.com)

At the beginning of April, the Los Angelos Zoo announced the birth of a Masai baby giraffe. He's in the little cutie in the picture to the left. 

Earlier this year, the Iraqi EPA moved to protect natural lakes, and now the government is attempting to protect another of its natural resources - its children. UNICEF announced on May 4 the Iraqi government has allocated $30 million (USD) to help provide clean drinking water and schools to children of the impoverished Marshlands. 

Finally, while searching for another story I stumbled on this one. Most of you know how much I love to cook and have no problem forcing, ahem, giving friends and family recipes I love and think they should try. Someone recently asked me what my favorite food was and the answer I gave, which surprised even me a little bit, was comfort food - mac and cheese, meatloaf and all the other goodies Mom used to make. : ) The Wilmington Star had an article about two daughters who have recently published a cookbook of recipes from three generations of women in their family. They took recipes they loved as children and adjusted them to meet today's time constraints. Somehow that makes a fitting circle - taking the best of the past and fitting it to your life now. 

(Photo credit: petlvr.com)