Every year when Mother's Day comes in sight I see it in the magazines, on the web and in the newspapers, "Special Mother's Day Package", "Deluxe Mother's Day Buffet", "Treat Her Royally with Sauna and Spa" and on and on it goes. It makes me wonder, how come you don't hear much about mothers the rest of the year? Why only at Mother's Day do they make such a fuss about it? How much do you read throughout the year about motherhood in the newspaper? You read about movie stars who go their Xth divorce, about people following "alternative" lifestyles, about negative population growth in many Western and Asian countries (why don't they just use the proper word "shrinking"), about people's love and care for their pets, about the need to improve daycare, bla, bla. But how much do you actually read about motherhood and mothers? Somebody should figure out the statistics on that. You know, they used to say that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, but nowadays the message is more like, the hand that rocks the cradle is wasting her time, when she could be out there making money, getting on with her career or pursuing her self-interest. That's the overwhelming message we get today, even up to some of our highest officials. A few years back when I was pregnant with my twins, I happened to talk to an Australian man. When I told him I was pregnant with children number eight and nine, he blurted out, "You must be a glutton for punishment!" It didn't make me feel hurt or offended, but I felt sorry for this man. He had a wife and a son, but it seemed to me that he looked at children more as a bother. I am less than five feet tall and look rather insignificant, and when I go out with my children, some of whom are taller than me now, people often think that I am a maid or housekeeper, and they say to me, "Oh how come they make you take care of so many children?" How I enjoy telling them with pride and satisfaction, "No, I am their mother!", knowing that even though I am small in the eyes of man, in God's book I enjoy that special honorary mention that is reserved for mothers only. The hand that rocks the cradle still rules the world, no matter what man says.