Mothers' Day All Year

Empty cradle empty countries

Photo:  Nonqaba waka Msimang

On Mothers’ Day 2018, prime ministers, presidents, members of parliament, congressmen, mayors and local government officials should leave ties and suits at home, don sneakers, and take the bus.  This will refresh their memory about what it means to be a mother 24/7.

In Canadian buses, the front seats fold to accommodate strollers and wheelchairs.  Most people know that they should give up those seats for the parent (usually mothers).  Some become irritated when they are told to move.

A likely scenario: mother of two drives the stroller around to fit in the allocated space while keeping an eye on the two-year-old that is eager to sit down.  There is disagreement when she tells him standing on the seat is dangerous.  Irritation flares up if he screams and hits the mother.  People on the bus want to read their books or check their Twitter and Instagram in peace.

Bus irritation is a social irritation about kids and mothers.  It is even worse when there are more than two kids.  Last summer, parents with eight kids who looked alike boarded the 19 bus and people stared, myself included.  Nobody is a mind reader, but irritation must have been one of their thoughts.


Social irritation manifests itself when a woman tells the boss she is pregnant.  Colleagues become irritated because they’ll be changes in the office when she is away on maternity and when she comes back.  There’ll be irritation when she leaves the office during the day because the child is sick.  Some wedding invitation cards specify NO KIDS.

Some politicians have never taken the bus, so they don’t know what happens when the mother of two gets off.  The child in the stroller smiles and says bye.  The people who were irritated when she boarded the bus smile and remark that the child is cute.

Children do that because they see themselves as part of the bigger whole.  They are part of the bus, of Canada or the European Union.  They are part of the future.  Mothers feel the social irritation. That is why women delay having kids or not more than one.  This affects the country.  Falling birth rates dip down population graphs.

People get old and die.  They should be replaced by kids, who grow up to buy goods and services, otherwise the economy becomes stagnant. Politicians on the bus must remember that when they get off the bus.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.