Being a mother has never been easy. Children are almost always untimely and arrive to disrupt and upend our planned   personal and professional lives, and, of course, throw away years of dieting and gym work. Living with an extremely dependent child who needs us so much isn’t easy, no matter how much love is put into it. But for women with financial difficulties, motherhood becomes not just a matter of priorities, but an absolute heroic feat.

Today, in addition to all the difficulties and sacrifices involved in being a mother, we must add the absolute   social discredit to which motherhood is subjected,   as well as the lack of reasonable measures to facilitate the integration of family and work life.

Against this backdrop, it’s gratifying to read María Calvo’s   latest   book, Orgullo de madre  (Rialp). María Calvo invites us to reflect on motherhood in the current context, where being a mother is a challenge that goes beyond parenting and becomes an act of social transformation. It reminds me of John Paul II’s words: that   women are the humanizers of society.

Despite all the difficulties of becoming a mother, the reality is that many women, some in deeply traumatic circumstances and completely alone, decide to continue with an “unwanted” pregnancy.    In these cases, love overcomes fear and insecurity.   For these brave women, social understanding and support from the public authorities are practically nonexistent.

However, motherhood is also, affirms María Calvo, the most exciting and rewarding experience for a woman. This is repeated throughout the book with different approaches.

I loved this quote:   Nothing prepares you for being a mother, but being a mother prepares you for everything.   Therefore, society should be able to value the virtues and skills a woman develops when she brings life into the world, all of which are highly useful and beneficial in the workplace, professionally, and socially.

I like to say that   being a mother is a plus on a woman’s resume, one that companies don’t usually value. Being a mother fosters flexibility; imagination; intuition; cooperation; emotional expressiveness; empathy; patience; affection; consensus; pragmatism; improvisational skills; contextual vision; and superb time management—these are   some of the innate social skills of women—almost all of them accentuated or strengthened by motherhood —that, according to experts, will be a rising value in virtually all sectors of today’s economy.   A child is a gift to its mother. But a mother is a gift to society as a whole.

We need a society proud of its mothers. One that, with imaginative measures, allows them to remain integrated into the workforce and professional life without constant anxiety and anguish; one that makes it possible to be a mother and a professional or worker without chronic exhaustion.   One that values ​​their generosity, effort, and sacrifice, but at the same time is capable of conveying the beauty of motherhood and its immense value ; giving women who have been mothers all the support, understanding, recognition, and appreciation they deserve, because the social contribution these brave and adventurous women make is absolutely priceless.

Another idea that recurs throughout the book is that “we need to ‘maternize’ this eroded society. This change can only come from women.” But to achieve this, it is essential that they become aware of the privilege or great potential of their nature “that radiates motherhood,” and that they generously return to loving life and themselves. The moral strength of a woman who loves possesses enormous healing energy, as well as immeasurable beauty and power, capable of humanizing the world; restoring to it the dignity of the mysterious, the beautiful, the sublime.

In this endeavor, the family is an essential element. A family, always imperfect, but one in which it is easier to face adversity and where we will find the compass, the rock, the harbor, the camp, the base in which to rest and recover the strength that only sincere love can give us, no matter what life’s difficulties may be.

Ultimately, the book analyzes motherhood not only as a personal experience, but as a fundamental pillar of society. It emphasizes that it’s  about turning the “guilt” of being a mother into “pride,“ urging women to love themselves and life.

“Orgullo de Madre” is a tribute to life and femininity, a work that empowers women in their most natural and transcendental role. María Calvo offers us a message of hope and strength, reminding us that motherhood is a vocation that enriches not only the family but the entire society, where the figure of the mother is essential for instilling solid values ​​and principles in the new generations.