The Whirlwind Woman

Today I taught Um Zara a new verb: Inspire. I only wanted to teach it so I could tell her that she inspires me.

The woman's got a husband, five kids, and a grandson. She's got a big house to take care of and plenty of cooking to do to feed everyone. But somehow--somehow!--she still manages to always have some project going on. Learning English, studying the Qu'ran, learning how to use the computer...she never stops. On top of which, she's not one of those mothers who just let the television be the babysitter. Or hires someone else to clean her house, even. I just can't figure out how this whirlwind of a woman does it.

It brings up a need that I see in America these days: Awesome role models. One thing I've noticed about Americans is that they tend to hang out with people in their own age bracket. College students hang out with other college students; young marrieds chill with young marrieds; people with kids are friends with people with kids.

That's all well and good--it's a little bit harder to find topics of conversation when you're in a completely different place in life. But one thing we might be missing is the ability to find older women who have done things you aspire to do--and who did it well. I want to know what it takes to have a successful marriage, raise kids well, and manage to have time for my own projects, too. But I don't have too many friends in the States who are older and have done it already. Maybe that's part of the reason we have so many self-help books in America--instead of friends, we get literature to teach us how to do it all.