Uemura Shōen shows off her feminist, maternal side.

As anyone who’s ever been near kids knows, there is very little luster in taking care of them. They’re covered in snot, they squirm, they cry. But that’s exactly why this work was so mind-blowing when it made its first debut in 1934 at the Imperial Academy’s Art Exhibition.

The artist behind this work, Uemura Shōen, wound up a “wayward mother” early on in her career. Since then Uemura’s mom was her number one fan and supporter. Even when times got tough and Uemura wound up being the recipient of sexist hate, her mom was right by her side. Towards the end of Uemura’s career, though, her mother passed away.

The same year that Uemura lost her mother, she painted this work. It blew minds when it first premiered because this was the first time that an everyday scene was treated with so much dignity. You wouldn’t know it by look at this hot mama, but she was an average everyday mom. In the 1900s, she wore a kimono, today she’d be wearing Fabletics leggings and sipping out of a Starbucks tumbler.

Uemura gave this mother the dignity that every restless baby-wrangling mother deserves and painted her as though she were a noblewoman who was born to be respected.