Dear Friend,

I lost my mom way too soon to cancer. It was 13 years ago this year. I remember her shaking hand in mine, the antiseptic smell and beeps of the hospital, my heart breaking open, and how hard she fought to stay with us like it was yesterday. May 9th, today, is my mom’s birthday.

Mother’s Day week brings up all the feelings at the same time for so many of us: The deep ache of loss for our mothers, grandmothers, for the children we’ve never had, and sometimes for children who’ve gone before us; the enduring love of family; the awe of being a mom with a love for our kids stronger than words can say; the sharp frustration of the impossibility about mothering in America (It shouldn’t be this hard to be a mom in 2024!!); and a full range of complicated emotions.

*This Mother’s Day, do you want flowers or real change? Click a button and let us know instantly!  

Rarely are all eyes on moms in the way they are during Mother’s Day week; so as the spotlight shines on our flowers this week, it also needs to shine on the impossibility of mothering in America – and the changes we need to make as a nation so the impossible becomes possible.

Why impossible? Our country still doesn’t have the adequate systems for moms and families to thrive that most other nations have long had in place. Paid family/medical leave, affordable childcare, aging and disability care, access to the full suite of reproductive healthcare, maternal health equity, and fair pay policies are just a few of the policies our country needed yesterday.  

All these changes are possible. We know how to write the policies and implement them. We just need leaders to act.

It’s clear: When this many moms are facing the same types of struggles at the same time, we don’t have an epidemic of personal failures, we have national structural issues that we can (and must) solve together through policy change.

*What’s better? Flowers or real change in honor of Mother’s Day? Click a button and let us know instantly!

We all know that being a mom, “momming,” should be listed in the dictionary as a verb. Momming is all the things. Moms are here for our kids, for our own moms and parents, for our families, and… importantly, moms are also here for ourselves while knowing it shouldn’t be so hard to raise families, to keep roofs over kids’ heads, to be there when it matters the most, and to stay in our jobs so our nation has a vibrant economy.  

Yes, reading between the lines, I said it: Moms power the U.S. (and us all).

It’s past time that the U.S. powers moms by catching up with the rest of the world and passing policies so moms can thrive at work and at home. 

Everyone should be able to be there for a close loved one’s last breath – and for a baby’s first as they enter the world; but because we are one of the only nations in the world without paid family/medical leave, too many can’t.  That’s not okay.  We can fix this.  

We also can fix access to childcare, which currently costs more than college; advance fair pay so when we work hard we can afford housing and food, which would increase our nation’s GDP because moms make the majority of consumer purchasing decisions in a nation with an economy fueled by just that; move forward access to aging and disability care so everyone can age with dignity; and advance fair pay policies.

And we can also help ensure future generations don’t have fewer freedoms than ours by fighting to make the full suite of reproductive healthcare, including abortion, available for everyone.

With us?  Click a button to let us know if you’d like to see more flowers or more change in honor of Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day Week can be a time of happiness, flowers, celebration and warm hugs.  Mother’s Day Week can be a time of grief, sadness, and aching.  Mother’s Day Week can be a time of frustration and anger.  It can also be any and all of these things at the same time…. And Mother’s Day week can be an especially powerful time of action when all eyes are on moms and we let leaders know what we really need: Change.  

Together we can make the seemingly impossible possible. 

With gratitude for you and all you do each day,

- Kristin and the entire MomsRising Team

P.S. Mother’s Day week is a great week to tell our nation’s leaders just how urgently we need change while all eyes are on moms. Here’s a powerful way to do just that!

• Gather with friends, family, or on your own to create a quick Mother’s Day card using any available paper, even a napkin. Encourage children to join in by adding their own colorful touches to the card.
• Write words like the following on the card: Moms power the US! Power moms: Pass care policies! (Note: Care policies include Paid family & medical leave, child care, aging and disability care, fair pay for care workers, the full suite of equitable reproductive health care, and more.)
• Take a picture of yourself with the card that you made, and, on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12th, take a quick moment to post the picture on X/Twitter, IG, Threads, Tic Tok, and/or Facebook as well as other social media platforms with #MothersDay and @MomsRising – and, if you can, add the handle of your member(s) of Congress, which you can find here!

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