Firstly, Happy Mother’s Day to all! Before we start, lets ask ourselves a question. What does mother mean? Well, according to dictionary, mother (noun) is defined as a female parent. In recent years, the word mother has developed a few other types of definition. In this blog, I am sharing with you the different definitions I got from participants across the lifespan – Children to Adults. I will also be sharing my perspective of a Mother.
The question that was posted to participants is: What does mother mean to you? Younger children described Mother in the following ways:
“My mother is someone who wakes me up.”
” My mother is someone who buys me everything I like.”
” My mother is everything.”
” My mother is special.”
” My mother is someone who is very kind.”
” My mother makes me breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
” My mother is a strict, but kind woman.”
” My mother is pretty.”
” My mother is someone who brings me to watch my favorite movies.”
Most children had very similar responses. The common definitions are identified as above. Now lets move on to adults. Adults described Mother in the following ways:
“ My mother is Everything.”
“My mother is my world.”
“ My mother is my entire life, I cant live without her.”
“My mother is my soul”
“My mother is my Wonder-woman
”
“My mother is the reason as to where I am today”
“My mother is someone who chides and coddles me in the most dubious way”
Now based on the responses above responses, do you see a similarity?
Despite how much we have grown, our response to what a mother means to us has not changed! Some of the meaning have developed to a higher level. Moreover, our mother’s role in our lives changes as we grow. Ultimately, mothers have facilitated our developments through kindness, unconditional love and empathy. Now I would like you guys to take a look back at the definitions and ask yourself this question- Is there anyone else who would make you feel the same way? Special? Your everything? Make you breakfast? Someone you cannot live without? I have a list of people who would make me feel similarly: My sisters, My dad, My brother, My friends, My teachers. What about those who have fathers or guardians who look after them in the place of a mother? Don’t they play a role as mother? What about the times your mother has to be away, for any reasons, who makes you feel the same way?
As I started exploring these definitions, I came to a realization that among the different hats we wear in our lives, at one point of time or another we would all have ‘mothered’ someone. When mother goes on a trip, my father takes care of us, he cooks us our favorite meals, spoils us with whatever we like. When my parents are not around, my sisters and I took care of our younger brother. We took care of the different departments- kitchen department, laundry department and education department (Hahaha)! The list goes on! Now when I am away from my family, I have my beloved friends who spoils me with surprises. Even their families, treat us like their very, and spoils me with home-cooked food. And not forgetting, our fur-kids! Well they show us unconditional love- sometimes expecting a treat! With that being said, I am so grateful for all the mothers in my life. Happy mother’s Day to each one of you!