Women's Work

I'm posting on Mother's Day because I think my shop's mission is all about being a mother. I made some tough choices over the years including deciding to leave a job I loved at Scholastic to become the primary caregiver to my children. I chose to move out of Manhattan to raise my children in a safer environment. Later, when we moved to Botswana, I chose to leave everyone and everything we knew to open the World up to my kids. Now, with a store that I am consumed with and a mission of fair trade, I choose to give them an example of a life worth living.

Yes, I show them that each of us can make a difference. But what I hope I'm giving them is a world that is fair and just, not only for those who have, but for everyone.

I don't think that in my lifetime the notion of fighting for the equal rights of all will be accomplished. But maybe in my children's lifetime. Maybe their children will not know the term Fair Trade, because all trade will be fair. All children will have the right to an education. There will not be slave labor inflicted to make their t shirts, chocolate, and roadways. I want to leave my children a legacy of caring for others, sure, but more importantly, a better world, a fairer life, a just existance for all.

And that's the work of mothers, I think. So, Happy Mother's Day to all my Women's Work friends, family and affiliates!