Delivering Baby Blankets

After months of work and many volunteers here are some of us delivering 50 blankets and baby kits to a local organization that educates unwed mothers. What a great service they do to teach these young girls about the changes that will happen once they become mothers. It is our pleasure as American Mothers Inc. to help this organization.

Guilt Friend or Foe?

Abraham Lincoln once philosophized: “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” I’ve heard it said that you need to know and meet your enemy head on. One such enemy is guilt which can easily become your best friend. With a proper attitude adjustment and discernment we can take Lincoln’s advice and “make the enemy a friend.”

I’ve had conversations with two mothers this past month on totally unrelated subjects but both expressed feelings of guilt about their respective situations. One mother expressed her concern as she looked upon her beautiful sleeping children at the end of a long hard day and felt badly that she yelled at them for minor wrongs. She expressed feelings of wanting to escape as soon as her husband walked in the door. She longed for the days when she had more time to herself. Those feelings caused her to think that she wasn’t a good mother and asked me what to do to eliminate the feelings of inadequacies and guilt.

Guilt is a positive evaluator in this scenario because it evokes self-evaluation. Do I get angry because I am out of sorts or was there really a need for anger? This emotion helps you to see yourself and evaluate where you need to improve. It prompts the question, if you will let it, “What you can do to improve the situation?” Feelings of guilt are good if they lead you to improve.

I remember being in her shoes when my personal self-evaluation took place. I started going to bed earlier and getting up earlier, which allowed me to prepare for the day by reading the scriptures and personal grooming before the children awakened. I learned that being prepared spiritually and physically got me through their tantrums and disobedience in a calm and loving manner. Guilt can become the positive force behind changes in our own behavior.

Another conversation arose when discussing the dilemma of working outside the home while trying to raise a family. This puts added pressure and stress on the family unit, but if circumstances dictate it, I know that with the right balance the family can be successful. Guilt comes as the counsel enters our minds that mothers need to be at home to raise their children and to this I wholeheartedly agree. There is a time and season for everything. But guilt will do us no good in this case. The question to ask yourself is, “Are you working outside the home to get away from what is inside the home?” On the other hand sometimes there are circumstances that require mothers to work outside the home. Feelings of guilt may lead to bitterness and those feelings of bitterness will filter down into your family and that will affect your children’s behavior more than having a job outside your home. How we handle our feelings and priorities is what makes the difference.

At no other time in history have women been so free to have their influence felt in the community as now. Basic survival was a daily routine in early history that encompassed every waking hour. Today life allows more discretionary use of time. If your circumstances are such that you work outside the home then use it for the benefit of good. I have thought that it is no coincidence that we women have been sent here in this time in history when our influence could be out in the world for everyone to see and from which others could benefit. How many lives can you touch and how many people will glean from your example as a righteous woman and mother? We women need to set an example to the world of what motherhood is and how fulfilling it can be.

Instead of feeling guilt, prioritize your values, keeping home first and foremost. Let guilt become your friend by using these feelings to focus on changing your own characteristics you need to work on. Your children will benefit from taking more responsibility. Take guilt and make it your friend. Guilt is not always a negative emotion. Let it guide you, not paralyze you.

Contributed by Bev from California

Deseret News Article.... Utah, Renee Starr

Thoughts On Motherhood

What is American Mothers

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History of American Mothers

The ideals of American Mothers, Inc.® began in the heart and mind of Anna Reeves Jarvis as she sought to heal the damage done to families caught in the conflict of the Civil War. By organizing a day of love and friendship across battle lines, this simple observance grew into the national holiday known as Mother’s Day, for which American Mothers is the official sponsor. First organized in 1933 as a division of J.C. Penny’s Golden Rule Foundation, American Mothers embraced all faiths and recognized the important role of the mother in the home, the community, the nation, and the world. Armed with the mission of promoting Mother’s Day and recognizing outstanding mothers, the first National Mother of the Year ® was named by Honorary Chairman, Sarah Delano Roosevelt in 1935 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Every year since then, American Mothers has selected a remarkable mother from nominees among the 50 states, District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for this important honor. There is a Hall of Fame plaque located in the south lobby of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (former home of American Mothers) that lists every National Mother of the Year ® since 1935.

Incorporated under the laws of New York in 1950, American Mothers became an independent, non-profit organization in 1954. However, it was under the leadership of American Mothers Honorary Chairman, Mamie Eisenhower, that a strong presence at the United Nations was established. American Mothers continues to be recognized as a non-governmental organization at the United Nations and is currently working on relevant issues with the Commission on the Status of Women. Many outstanding individuals throughout America have served as officers, leaders, members, and supporters of this organization such as Sarah Delano Roosevelt, J.C. Penny, Norman Vincent Peale, Mamie Eisenhower, Phyllis Marriott, Lindy Boggs, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is an inter-faith, non-political, non-profit organization that continues to recognize the invaluable contribution mothers make to the future success and happiness of children and society. Its purpose is exclusively charitable. The national headquarters is located in Washington D.C.

History of Awards Given In California for American Mothers Inc.

2009 Myrna Condie, Mother of the Year, and Cherry Field, Young Mother of the Year

2010 Dianne Callister, Mother of the Year and Sara Dawn Mayer, Young Mother of the Year,

Meichelle Arntz for Outstanding Service to Children, Susan Funk, Santa Barbara, Young Mother of the Year

2011 Karen Nelson, Mother of the Year and Christine “Tina” HoChing, Young Mother of the Year

Carol Waddle, Mother of the Year from San Diego, Mandana Anvaripour, Young Mother of the Year

from Los Angeles, Diana Haskins, Outstanding Service to Children

2012  Bev Nelson, Mother of the Year, Darcy Ure, Young Mother of the Year, and Margaret Finlay, Mother of Achievement, Sonja Brown for Outstanding Service to Mothers and Sara Vance for Outstanding Service to Children. 

2013  Renee Starr, Mother of the Year, Stephanie McKnight, Young Mother of the Year

 Janice Rutherford-Lim, Mother of Achievement

and Robina Suwol, Francis Eleanor Smith, “Helping the Helpless Children” Award