Mama's time has come. From the hills of Hollywood to the halls of the White House, there are mamas in the limelight. Instead of simply acknowledging the fact that any accolades Mom receives are long overdue, why not join the growing boom of females who insist on everything from paid maternity leave to rock festivals that feature female entertainment?

I refuse to believe the current movement is a response to the 1950s stereotype that kept June Cleaver in the kitchen with her lipstick on. And I keep hoping the momentum is bigger than an angry backlash of feminists who refuse to make room for softer, gentler versions of themselves. 

Most of all, I pray that while the idea of "family values" is of great concern to many of us, those values are not determined by a right-wing government.

We want different things. The point is, for the first time in many years, we are mobilizing to want something. The common thread between us is that we are reaching out to redefine what it is to be a modern mother.

For the first time in (her)story, we are single mothers, rocker mothers, soccer mothers, alpha moms, hot moms, and intellectuals, all taking on new work, new life definitions.

I am totally psyched to see a dialogue begin and, the sensationalistic Mommy wars aside, the truth is that we can all get along.

I started out as a mother and a wife replicating what I had witnessed growing up in middle-America. When my children were born in New York City from 1989 to 1994, there was a dawning of a new consciousness: a network of midwife-assisted births, natural parenting magazines, and higher consciousness baby groups.

As we embraced our children, we also embraced ourselves as women and asked questions about work-life vs. home-life. We started dialogues about what an overwhelming and over-the-top job parenting was. We struggled and juggled and we spawned a new movement with political, social, artistic, cultural, academic, and, of course, economic overtones.

Haven't heard of the Mom Movement, you say? 

As I write this a group called Moms Rising is collecting signatures for the election. Mamapalooza is readying itself for another dizzying schedule of performances by Mother artist-musicians.  And the Association for Research on Mothering is preparing for a Motherhood Summit with 43 organizational leaders from around the globe.

Call me divorced. Call me a single mom. Call me whatever you want.

I'm a woman and I vote. Mostly I vote for changing the stereotypes that women have been pegged with for years.

No matter what you call me, I write, I live loud, and I rock!

More to come in Part 2.