In Honor of Mothers

Wishing everyone a blessed Mother's Day!

To honor our Mothers or a special 

Mother-figure in our lives,

I'd like to share a well-known story

written by Erma Bombeck and published 

in her column on Mother's Day 1974.

Mother and Child Artwork by Ellen H. Clapsaddle,
Wolf Publishing

from an Antique Postcard in my Personal Collection

When God Created Mothers

by Erma Bombeck
When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into his sixth day of “overtime” when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”


And the Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order?

• She has to be completely washable, but not plastic;
• Have 180 movable parts... all replaceable;
• Run on black coffee and leftovers;
• Have a lap that disappears when she stands up;
• A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair;
• And six pairs of hands.”

The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands... no way.”


“It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord. “It’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”


“That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel.


The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ’What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ’I understand and I love you’ without so much as uttering a word.”


“Lord,” said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, “Go to bed. Tomorrow...”


“I can’t,” said the Lord, “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick... can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger... and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.”


The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed.


“But she’s tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.”


“Can it think?”


“Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.


Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told You You were trying to push too much into this model.”


“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.”


“What’s it for?”


“It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride.”


“You are a genius,” said the angel.


The Lord looked somber. “I didn’t put it there,” He said.

Until next time, live and love well.

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.  We would love to create a special doll for you!