Tiger-Mom works better as a verb than as a noun. Why?

Because, let's face it, there are a lot of people out there who need to be Tiger-Mommed. And I am not talking about children.

I have been thinking about this for a long time -- so long that when I started I was picturing Soccer Moms. But now I realize that Tiger Moms are both more au courant and better suited for the job.

The issue is this: Why is it that mothers who would do anything to safeguard their children's futures fail to act when policymakers threaten to wreak havoc on those futures?

Start by remembering all that we have done for the children. We bolstered their health and brain power by prolonged breast-feeding. The baby food had to be organic. The stroller and the car seat had to pass muster with the powers that be at Consumer Reports.

We accepted only green cotton for the crib linens and low-VOC paint for the nursery. The nanny was monitored by hidden cameras. We taught babies sign language so they could signal their every need. We read "Sheep in a Jeep" to the toddlers so often we could recite it backwards in our sleep.

Things started going wrong with the advent of the team sports era. When my kindergarteners began to stumble around a soccer field, I was astonished to discover that most of the parents stayed to watch the practices.

Why on earth? Shouldn't the children just play while the parents seize the opportunity to do something else? (Hint: A visit to the local bar is not what I have in mind.)

When one is a young parent, group norms exert great pressure. I stayed and yawned through years of soccer practices and games. I was a good mother even if my children failed to reach any dizzying heights in soccerdom.

Then one child commenced cello lessons while the other tackled the piano, and not only was this mother expected to be present at lessons, I was also elevated to the grand status of Practice Poobah. Scales, bowings, arpeggios, double-stops, etudes, woo woo.

My children are not going to debut at Carnegie Hall any time soon, but I've put in enough hours next to their music stands to rate myself an excellent mother.

The schools counted on us superior mothers. We supervised at the bus stop and issued bandages on the playground. We chaperoned the field trips and corralled the "bolters." We went over spelling words and math facts and geography miscellany.

We taught Junior Great Books and thought approvingly of future AP classes. We e-mailed teachers and voice-mailed teachers and generally bombarded teachers.

So, having invested so many years and having made such enormous efforts to cultivate our children's talents, safeguard their health, and pave their way to Princeton, why are we about to let short-sighted people wreck it all?

Do good mothers believe that our children will be better educated if we denigrate their teachers and cut their pay? Why do we obsess about car seats when the bridge might crumble beneath the wheels of our minivans? What use is organic apple juice when every family is one or two jobs away from losing health insurance coverage?

And it is not enough to be a Tiger Mom for our own children. Their well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of our communities.

My own children will not be better off if other children lack quality preschools or day care while their parents are at work. They will be not better off if we leave rural schools and inner-city schools desperately short of funds.

They will not be productive citizens if we decimate our state universities. They will not be healthier if we deny health care to the poor and the disabled. They will not live into old age if we allow polluters to have their way or let the bridges collapse beneath them.

So, Tiger Moms unite! Skip a soccer practice. Use the time to write a letter to your legislator. Let her/him know that every child in Minnesota is backed by a ferocious Tiger Mom. Let Junior race through piano practice on his own while you call your elected representative. Let her/him know that Tiger Moms believe in investing in our children and in our communities, and we are willing to pay the taxes to do so.

Tiger-Momming is not for sissies. And, at this moment, it is our state legislators who need to be Tiger-Mommed.

Mary Yee is a professional gardener in Edina. She was formerly a staff economist for the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C.

* * *

To offer an opinion considered for publication as a letter to the editor, please fill out this form. Follow us on Twitter @StribOpinion and Facebook at facebook.com/StribOpinion.