Mother's Day and Proverbs 31

Mother's Day is upon us and typically not a few sermons will involve Proverbs 31. I have found that many Christians are unaware that there is a fair amount of disagreement on how the Proverbs 31 woman should be understood. In this article, Will Thomas suggests one of them: 

"Rather than a to-do list for an already over-stressed mom, Proverb 31 should be read through the eyes of an appreciative husband and family who recognize how much they owe the one who does life’s most important job."

Thomas reading is possible but improbable. Note that the context involves admonitions to a son about what to look for in a potential wife (31:2-3). Additionally, the book of Proverbs as a whole is prescriptive rather than descriptive. More often than not, it informs the reader how to live a wise life and even the descriptive passages imply that one should live accordingly. Finally, one should not miss the fact that the wife/mother of Proverbs 31 is extraordinary and therefore not ordinary (31:10ff).