After Rose Tucker’s kids left home, she didn’t know what to do with herself. Her husband suggested that she find a hobby. After buying over $2,000 of jewelry off the Home Shopping Network, he suggested that she get a part-time job.
Tucker found herself at a loss as to what kind of job to apply for. “I never went to college and I didn’t have any office experience,” she said. “The only thing I knew how how to do was be a mom.”
When her youngest son snarkily suggested that she start her own truck driving company, so she could call it Mutha Trucker, she had an idea. “Since there were plenty of people out there who didn’t have mothers still living or were estranged from them, I thought they might be interested in renting one.”
Within a week, Mom for Hire was born. “Looking back, I was so naive. I mean, I just printed up some business cards, hired the teenager across the street to build me a website, and started attending networking events. My idea never should have worked!”
But it did. People were amused by the idea and charmed by Tucker, so they told their friends. As the word spread, Tucker’s phone began to ring.
“At first, it was babysitting jobs. Then I got calls to go to homes to make chicken soup for people when they were sick,” Tucker said. “The first call that surprised me, though, was a young lady whose mother had passed away the year before, and she wanted me to hold her hand in the delivery room. Oh, that was a beautiful moment, even if she was in labor for 16 hours.”
When asked about her strangest clients, Tucker thinks for a moment. “It’s probably a tie between the young lady who wanted me to go with her to get her nipples pierced and a young man who had planned to go skydiving with his mom before she was killed in a car accident. You can actually watch me jump out of the plan if you search for ‘Let Her Rip’ on YouTube.”
And the client who has been the most fun? “I had a young man who was scared to come out to his mother, so he hired me to practice with. He was very nervous, so we had multiple sessions before he felt ready. For the first session, he asked me to dress like Cher. The next time we got together, I dressed like Bette Midler, and finally as his mother for the last session. Unfortunately, she disowned him when he told her he was gay, but now he takes me to lunch once a week. Her loss!”
Of course, May is Tucker’s busiest time of year. “I am completely booked Mother’s Day weekend! I’m making appearances at six different churches that morning and have lunches scheduled, back-to-back, from noon until 10:00 p.m.”
And how does one manage ten lunches in one day? “Well, you hire a doctor friend with a mobile stomach pump between meals.”
