After dragging my three children up to the top of Nob Hill (which was only 6 blocks from our hotel, but entirely uphill) to the Cable Car Museum in San Francisco, I was exhausted. I stood on the platform and observed the hard-working cables that keep the cars running up and down the steep slopes of the city. I don’t know if it was the tired sounds of the machines or the sweat pouring down the back of my neck, but it got me thinking: Cable cars and moms are a lot alike. 

First of all, cable cars run all day – except between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m when they return to the barn for a brief rest. Moms of newborns have been known to keep these hours. And moms of teenagers too. And overworked, busy moms with lots of hats to wear have also been known to keep “cable car” hours too. Pretty much if you’re a mom, you haven’t slept a regular eight-hour night in years – unless you were sick, and even then it’s debatable.

Next, cable cars run at a constant but slow speed all day long – 9.5 miles per hour to be exact. While it seems like a mom is never getting things done because she’s always on the go, it also feels like a mom can’t ever seem to get anywhere very fast. Just when a mom gets going, it’s time to stop again. Just like the cable car trudging up and down the steep hills of San Francisco, as mothers we’re journeying uphill all day to cross things off our lists with temper-tantrum-prone toddlers and pouting pre-teens in toe.

Finally, these antique cars’ cables are coated with a sacrificial lubricant that keeps the ropes gripping day in and day out. They compare this special tar-like oil to a pencil eraser eroding away instead of the paper. In mom-speak, our protective lubricant is the thick skin we develop so our own pride and self-esteem don’t wear away. In comes in  those times when we step into a tough spot to defend our family and find ourselves looking the lone wolf in a forest full of hungry salivating predators. In the end it’s that extra layer that helps us develop greater resolve than ever to do whatever it takes to keep our little den of wolf cubs safe and happy – day after day.

Cable cars have been around for what seems like forever (just like moms), will be around for a whole lot longer (just like moms), and seem to only get better and more beloved with time (just like moms.)