Top Mom Essay Contest

Believe your mom is tops? Tell us why in our Top Mom Essay Contest, accepting entries March 17 through April 30 (5 p.m.)!

Northern Virginia Magazine staff members will select one winning essay soon after all eligible entries have been received. Each essay will be judged based on the reasons the writer provided for believing that his or her mom is tops. While every mother deserves to be celebrated, we will be looking for the most compelling description of a mother’s dedication to her child/children and the sacrifices she makes on his/her/their behalf.

Should you write the winning essay, on May 3, we’ll publish it online and send your mom, a.k.a. “NoVa’s Top Mom,” two amazing prizes! Just in time for Mother’s Day, she’ll receive a gift certificate for a Signature Facial at Calvert Rejuvenations in Herndon (worth $125, voted “Best Facial” in our ‘09 Best of NoVA Survey) plus a $75 gift card for jewelry from Alexandria’s esteemed Queen Bee Designs!

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The contest is now closed, and we’re thrilled to share the winning essay below, written by Emily Tabacchi in honor of her mother, Brenda Tabacchi of Manassas Park.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the contest. We were very touched by all of the submissions. Warm Mother’s Day wishes to all area moms!

My mom is a suburban superhero. Although there is nothing particularly striking about her appearance, she can command any person under the age of twelve into obedient submission. Her height stands at five feet two and three-quarters inches, with the light build of a lady half her age. Her face is kind and understanding as any fourth grade teacher, but a shrill holler from a teeny bopper is all it takes for her face to contort to the stern and commanding façade of an army officer.

Her career demands this demeanor: a room full of rambunctious nine years olds is certainly a force to be reckoned with. She is amazing with children; a skill rightfully earned after raising six proper and diligent children of her own. However, it is not her finesse, grace, or strength that defines her, rather, it is her unwavering commitment for providing for her families education.

Five years ago, my mother sat in a lamp lit room, bills on one side of the table, private school pamphlets adjacent. The two costs did not balance out, and the length of her face blatantly revealed her troubles.

“Emily, I am going to have to go back to work to do this,” referring to her desire for us to receive the best private school education. “We’ll make it work, my children deserve this.”

So soccer mom Brenda, homemaker Brenda, homework helper Brenda, dinner cooker Brenda, and choir singer Brenda welcomed full-time fourth grade teacher Brenda into the colorful entourage. Every night she would go to bed at two only to rise at six, but never once did she forget or regret why she had made this decision.

“My only wish is that you take hold of every opportunity, and that you appreciate sacrifices that families make for each other,” she told me one night with darkened eyes and hair affray. She had never appeared more beautiful.