Doing it all

New York City cabs have small televisions facing passengers to entertain and/or inform you during your ride. You can catch up on your news, weather and gossip or you can opt out. I usually opt out and press the off button as quickly as I can. This morning, though, I took a cab to work and, for some reason, forgot to press the off button. The little TV came to life and there was supermodel Heidi Klum asking passengers, "Do you ever wonder how I do it all?" I don't. I never have and can't imagine that I ever would. First of all, I'm too busy trying to do everything I've set out to do and there just isn't time in my daily schedule to wonder how a gorgeous supermodel fits it all in. Second, if I did take the time to wonder, I imagine I would focus only on her good lucks and fabulous figure and not even give her due credit for the "all" that she does. Jealousy directed at a supermodel will help me accomplish nothing but may well slow me down and prevent me from accomplishing my own tasks and goals as I wallow in self-pity. Finally, what does she really mean by "all" and how are we to judge if she indeed does "it all"? Heidi Klum's opening question turns out to be a promo for her new website, which gives beauty and fashion advice.  Maybe if I follow her, I'll be able to attack my daily "to do" list with a perfect smoky eye or just the right color lipstick. I took a look at the website and learned it will soon provide parenting and lifestyle advice too. Though I am quite certain the lifestyle she's adopted is vastly different from my own (and one I would probably covet), I will hold back (a little) on the sarcasm. In fairness, she's a beautiful woman with several young kids and an incredibly successful career. I begrudge her nothing and appreciate that she may well be a role model to many young moms. I don't mean to be hating on her at all, just enjoying a little laugh at the expense of her latest enterprise, which, let's face it, will likely make her even more money than she has now and it's not too difficult to guess who has the last laugh. So, why am I sharing? I guess it was just a bizarre way to start off another busy day and I wanted to vent. I guess it's also because I think most moms "do it all" but are too busy doing it to talk about it and those are the moms who have my utmost respect and admiration. I hope those moms also have the respect and admiration of their kids but that is really a sign of my delirious exhaustion because most people couldn't possibly (and don't fully)  appreciate all that a parent does until they become parents themselves.

The story of Nazia as told by Amjed Qamar in Beneath My Mother's Feet is quite the exception. Nazia, a 14 year old girl growing up in Karachi Pakistan, is depicted as the ever dutiful daughter who recognizes all that her mother does for her. When her father is unable to work, she leaves school and joins her mother cleaning houses to help her family get by. She seems acutely aware of the sacrifices her mother has made for her and the sacrifices she is making for her family. She comes to learn and appreciate that her mother's sacrifices have been about more than enabling her children to survive - and really about wanting the very best life possible for her daughter. This story considers family loyalty, the mother-daughter relationship, the issue of arranged marriages, the limited of educational opportunities for girls in Pakistan.