“Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world”. -Marilyn Monroe

Before I explain the title of today’s blog, let me give you a quick recap of last Friday.  Last Friday I was asked to be a speaker for Senator Hatch’s Women’s Conference.  Senator Hatch has been a long-time friend that I respect tremendously, so when he asked if I would be willing to speak at his event I was honored to say yes.  I spoke on achieving your personal and professional potential. We had a packed crowd at the event and the women in attendance were incredible.  The conference was amazing and I truly enjoyed meeting so many great women.

One of the highlights of the conference for me was hearing Condoleezza Rice speak at the conference after I did.  She gave a fabulous talk.  She talked about the need for diversity in views and opinions, and the importance of being respectful enough to hear other people’s views even when you may not agree.  She also shared that she thinks the biggest threat to our national security is the declining education of our young people because if they don’t have a proper education they will be unable to find work and support a family someday and our system will not be able to support them.  She hit on the topic of what is happening with the government shutdown currently.  She admitted that it is tough to watch what is happening with our Government these days. She commented that “Yes, you have to stand on principle, but you also have to know the difference between principle and public policy.”  She shared her belief that people in Washington need to talk to one another like grown-ups and they need to listen to one another’s views in a respectful way and then look for ways to come together.

Oh, how I wish that would actually happen!   I think all of us are exhausted of hearing about the fighting and inability to resolve things in Washington.  Perhaps we need a few more women around that table…eh?  🙂

Yes, Friday’s conference was a serious boost of Girl Power and I love the energy women have when you get a big group of them together.  There is a spark and an enthusiasm that you don’t get from a room full of men, ya know?  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t say that to bash men because men are fantastic – but let’s face it, they just don’t have that same rah rah cheerleader energy that women bring to the table. Women have an amazing spirit.  They really do.  And it is amazing the drive women have when they are on a mission to accomplish something…women united in a cause is one powerful force to be reckoned with.

Which brings me to the meaning of the title of today’s blog.  “My Solution to the Government Shutdown – Send In The Mothers!”

I have to say it – If the Mothers of all those Senators and Congressmen were running negotiations in Washington right now, would we still have a government shut down? HECK NO!  Just think about it – mothers are trained negotiators – heck mothers negotiate with everyone from two year old children to full grown teenagers – and those two groups are the hardest negotiations in life!   And mothers can’t just walk out of those negotiations.  Mothers can’t just say – all you non–essential children have to leave the family while we try and work out our disagreements.  No, they negotiate and then they reach a conclusion – then they end the negotiation with a kiss and a hug and a warm cookie and everyone goes off to play again, happy as clams.  So I say – SEND IN THE MOTHERS!

And make sure the mothers receive a cute pair of shoes for their service, because after all, if you give a girl the right shoes she really can conquer the world!

GO MOTHERS!

~Amy