Alpha Mom - Who knew?

Two years ago I finished my degree. Was is a bachelor's degree? What subject? A Masters? Neither. Not a doctorate either. My degree was obtained over a twenty five year stint as a Mom. Not just any mom. A mom of three daughters. Yeah my poor husband. When I gave birth to our third daughter I told him the only thing I could guarantee for the next twenty years was that someone would always be in tears at home. Probably it would be him. Two years ago, we celebrated the marriage of the third daughter. Diploma, obtained. Graduate work to come.

The courses I took. Cooking 101. I told my growing gaggle that by the time they could tell their friends I was a good cook, I would be. Grade A+



Decorating 102. This one was a struggle. I still am in remedial classes, and have a tutor on occasion. If I could just go buy a whole room, it'd be easier. Grade C



Psychology 400. Oh yeah, this has been a mentoring class. My husband is the family therapist. Sitting in on a few sessions, has helped refine my objectivity fairly well. I found it easier to pretend my daughters were neighbor kids when the hard questions came along. Transference can be a good thing at times. Grade B+

P.E. This class was always the best. Who doesn't like going somewhere fun, especially if you can get wet? Grade? This was always an easy A.



Art 101, 214. Art is subjective. I always liked to call it "Necessity is the mother of invention". Never did special artistic need meet with financial availability. It seemed if we needed a cool costume, diorama, or anything that need to be creative, it was between paydays. So you learn to do things on the fly. I crochet, fuse glass, work with paper goods, and can make you into a chicken using sleeper jammies and construction paper! Grade A+



Oh and there are all types of other classes, accounting, teaching credentialing, music, performance art, first aid, home economics, photography, wedding planning, event coordination, computer science. The field trips were always the best. I tried to stay current with trends and technology. We were the cool parents, had a recording studio in the house, that was great for sleep-overs.

So what is my degree in? I thought it was Mom-ology. We all got one, some with better grades than others. Constance Van Flandern recently has become famous by coining the phrase "Alpha Mom". Reading her description, I guess that's what you could call us. Alpha Moms. Not needing anything but a desire to be the best mom, with or without a lot of money, because money doesn't make you a good mom, the desire to do well is all it takes. So for my daughters, in pursuit of their own degrees, time young ones, time. It all comes in time. Just like cooking.