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I recently spent an afternoon helping my very pregnant daughter-in-law Alexandra prepare for the birth of her second child. We organized toys, washed baby clothes and measured spaces for some storage containers that would separate one child's stuff from another's. Alex had already done most of the work, making decisions about what to keep, where to put the tiny diapers and how to make a single bedroom work for two children.

Meanwhile, her almost 3-year-old daughter, Gabriella, busily mimicked many of her mommy's actions.

We influence our children by simply doing and being "Mom."

"You weigh 37, Oma," she told me matter-of-factly as she measured my arm with the tape measure. She then sat down at her little table and began doodling on a piece of paper. "I'm making a meeting," she announced. A short time later, she put her purse over her arm, picked up her baby, stuffed a pacifier in the doll's mouth and headed for the back door. "We need some fresh air," she informed us.

People say she looks just like her daddy, but I can tell you that she walks just like her mommy. As I sat there that day, surrounded by the piles of clothes and toys and normal happenings in the home of a mother of preschoolers, I realized—again—the power of a mother's influence.

At MOPS, we say that "every mom's a leader" because a leader is a person with influence. And every mother obviously has great influence in her world … influence she probably doesn't even recognize. Influence that comes from simply doing and being "Mom."

A mom's influence is greatest in the season of life when the foundation of a family is being shaped and set. When children are young and learning how to walk and talk and take measurements and "make meetings."

Our children need us to be leaders. They need our influence. They need us to show them how two children will fit into one family. Why meetings and fresh air are important. Even more, they need us to have a vision for where our family is headed. To identify and focus on what matters most. To grow each other toward the kind of family we want to become.

My children are adults now and starting families of their own. One of my greatest blessings is to plop myself down into the middle of their worlds … and watch the many ways they influence their own children. With tender and powerful leadership.

Carol Kuykendall is the Director of Strategic Projects at MOPS International and the author of several books, including Five-Star Families: Moving Yours from Good to Great (Revell).

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