I am writing to dedicate this to all mothers everywhere in the world: My mother, my wife, my aunts, my mother-in-law, and every mother out there. Your day is so special that we celebrate it on various days in almost every country in the world. In the Arab world we celebrate it on March 21 and in many countries it is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.

A mother’s job is the most valuable and valiant of all with a lot of work with unreasonable overtime and no income in return.

From my personal experience, I can speak of two mothers, my own mother and my wife. Let me start with my mother whom my siblings and I kept busy all the time. She is a very opinionated woman with a strong attitude and a big heart. I should know because I try to emulate her with every breath I take.

She is not a native English speaker yet while I studied in international schools, she managed to help me win awards for writing in English and I surpassed all nationalities and students who were native speakers. She did not fully grasp the American culture because it was not hers, but through my years in school I managed to be a lead singer of a choir, a drummer and an athlete in sports.

In fact my mother, along with my wife, started my career without even knowing it by convincing me to join the Saudi English broadcasting service which led to further opportunities.

Now let’s talk about my wife, another woman with a big heart and also with opinions that are strong. My wife does everything she can to ensure our children are taken care of. Through the years, she took charge of raising my two boys while I was working demanding schedules. She managed to make our house full of joy and keep it well maintained even though we did not have maids like other people did.

Whenever I felt I could not do something, she was the first person to offer solutions and ideas to overcome any obstacle that I faced professionally and personally. She has supported me financially and mentally at times as well. She would stand by me when nobody would and comfort me when nobody could. My wife taught my boys two languages at once. She made sure that our boys were ready for every stage of development. She does not get much help, but yet manages to help me in the process.

Watching her raise our children has taught me how a mother’s love and tender care are the most important things a child can get when growing up. Also a mother not only takes care of her children, but also takes care of her husband. I am blessed to have a wife who takes care of me in every respect and I cannot fathom how she manages to provide her energy and attention to me and our boys without giving it a second thought.

Moreover, she does all of this against all odds due to the nature of my profession, which is very time consuming. She manages to make my life feel normal and warm. I cannot imagine that any other woman could overcome these obstacles and make it look like another day in the office.

I learn something every day from being married to my wife and one of the most important things is that a mother does not only take care of her children, but also her husband who is always called the head of the household. After this I think we should all reconsider who the true head of the household is in our homes. Living closely with these two women has taught me that no one on earth will work to ensure that you get the best a family can provide other than a mother.

We are also witnessing this in the Saudi government, as women (most are mothers) have been appointed to the Shoura Council, have participated in municipal elections, and now hold various strategic government positions.

Hussam Al-Mayman