When I think about Mother’s Day, I don’t just think about celebration. I think about responsibility.
I think about the women I’ve watched my whole life — my mother, my aunts, the mothers I grew up around in Queens — who did whatever it took to hold their families together, no matter what they were carrying themselves.
My parents were union workers. My father was a Teamster, proud of the work he did every single day. My mother was always guiding, always teaching, always making sure other people were OK. That’s how I was raised: You take care of your family.
For decades, too many families have been asked to figure out the impossible, because childcare isn’t just expensive — it’s often out of reach. I saw this early in my own life.
When I was a student at Spelman College, I worked in the on-campus childcare center. I spent time learning how you teach a three-year-old, watching how much they can learn, how much they’re ready for, if we just give them the chance. I also watched the young mothers trying to build something for themselves and their children at the same time. Without that childcare center, many of them wouldn’t have been able to succeed.
Later in life, I saw it again in my own family. I watched strong women raising children while trying to make ends meet. I felt it in a very personal way when my own daughter — a talented, hardworking New Yorker — left this state because she couldn’t afford childcare. Not because she wanted to leave, but because she didn’t have a choice.
That’s what this issue is really about: families. It’s why, as City Council speaker, I made early childhood education a priority, expanding care for our youngest, including those with disabilities. And it’s why I’m proud to be running alongside Gov. Hochul on New York’s first “mom’s ticket.” She understands that childcare isn’t a side issue, it’s foundational. Under her leadership, we are building the support that my daughter and so many other families need.
This fall, 2,000 New York City families will receive free 2-K seats. By 2028, every four-year-old in New York will have access to universal pre-K. For so many moms, that’s the difference between staying in the workforce or dropping out — between building a future here, or having to leave.
All in, the governor’s $4.5 billion investment will deliver affordable childcare for nearly 100,000 more children.
As someone who has spent her life fighting for families, I can tell you: none of this works unless we support the people doing the work. That’s why we are fighting to invest in the workers who care for our children: expanding scholarships, building pathways, and making sure the next generation of educators is ready.
None of this happens without a fight. When Donald Trump moved to freeze $10 billion in childcare funding for New York families, the governor went to court, fought back, and won. Our opponent, Bruce Blakeman, stayed silent.
I’ve spent my life around women who don’t have the luxury of staying silent. Women who show up every day for their families, no matter how hard it gets. This Mother’s Day, I’m thinking about them — the mothers who are tired, but keep going; the mothers who are figuring it out, even when the math doesn’t work; the mothers who just need a little support to make everything else possible.
We owe them more than gratitude. We owe them action. New York’s first “mom ticket” is fighting for exactly that.
Adams is the Democratic designee for New York lieutenant governor and former speaker of the New York City Council.