My daughter Pauline is quite possibly the best mother I know.
She has six children — three from her first marriage and three she acquired when she remarried. It’s a pretty good deal to have six kids and only have to give birth to three of them.
She has an extremely demanding career. She’s currently serving as America’s chief consular officer to two different African countries, but she still finds time to be extremely involved in her children’s lives — in a good way.
If there’s one thing that truly stands out to me, it’s something she did that I don’t know any other mother doing. One of her children decided that they didn’t like the name they were born with and wanted to change it.
OK, no problem.
Is that maybe as amazing as it gets? I have friends who didn’t like their names and went on to be called by nicknames, but that’s different. Wally was still Wilbur to his parents, but everyone in Pauline’s family calls the name-changing child by the new name.
Another very nice thing they do is celebrate two birthdays a year for each of their kids.
It’s not a big deal. They celebrated a half-birthday this past week, and all it involved was a special dinner and a special dessert. But it said hey, we’re keeping track. You’re halfway between 11 and 12 and we’re proud of you.
She also recognizes that being a mother involves more than just your own children.
The little guy in this picture — I think he was turning 3 — hasn’t had a birthday cake for a long, long time. Birthdays have become a situation where primarily what he celebrates is still being alive.
But there was exactly one person in his family who contacted him today to wish him a happy 73rd birthday.
Yep, it was Pauline.
Not his mother, but the very best mother he knows.