I believe Mother’s Day should not be the only time we celebrate our mothers.
Rather, we should take every opportunity we get to celebrate our mothers, especially while they are still alive.
We can do so in various ways, including taking them out of their usual space on holidays.
These could be places they have not seen or been to. You can also decide to go and cook for them on a weekend or send her meals, that is, if they are not staying with you.
You can also regularly dine with her as a family.
Mothers deserve these special treats because the challenges of combining motherhood, career and leadership is a big task.
I don’t know how our mothers did this, but each time I look at my children, I look at my struggles, I’m like, look, our mothers did great raising that large number in our family.
I think that is why when a mother passes away, the absence is felt more than even a father.
The difference between mothers of today and those in the past is that they were not doing the white-collar jobs our fathers did; they were basically housewives.
But today’s mother is working and doing the kind of jobs men do and combining this with childcare.
Although our society is blessed to have the external family system, this is somehow dying away.
Elizabeth Yeboah,
Clinical Psychologist,
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital
My message to all mothers, especially young mothers, as we celebrate Mother’s Day, is that the dynamics of motherhood today expose us to technology and we should be able to blend it with the traditional way of socialisation in order to get the best upbringing for our children.
Inasmuch as young mothers of today are too busy looking for money, it is important for us to also spend time with our children.
We have a lot of technology replacing the roles mothers should play in raising their children.
Today, mothers no longer sing lullabies for their children; we have replaced them with online baby songs.
We don’t sing all those lullabies; the phones and computers are doing it for us.
At the dining table, instead of families chatting among themselves, everybody is on their phone.
Now, if a child is going through a problem, because they are stuck to their phones or computers, they are not ready to share the problem with the family and rather go to Google to give them solutions.
If we blend technology with the upbringing of children, it is better, but if we stick to technology alone, we will lose the socialisation aspects of what traditional mothers were doing.
For me, a mother is not just by virtue of giving birth. It’s about taking care of the next generation and impacting them socioculturally to become good people in future. I’m a mother myself and I think today’s mother is doing their best.
Gloria Holm-Graves,
APR Head, Public Relations,
Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology
A mother doesn’t need to be biological, as motherhood transcends biology. A mother gives herself to love, nurture, protect and support a child regardless of whether they gave birth to them or not.
Mothers are the builders of societies through nurturing, education as well as shaping the future of society.
Mothers of today do more than those in the past due to the information available to them, and they spend more time with children in their education and emotional support, in spite of their daily occupational schedules.
Though the situation today, whereby mothers have to juggle between work and their home, reduces parental time with children, it has a positive impact on children as they provide economic stability necessary for the children.
I think mothers deserve to be celebrated throughout the year, despite Mother’s Day being designated to honour their immense love and sacrifices they provide daily.
Some of the ways people can celebrate the women they regard as mothers in their lives include being there for them by providing their needs and giving them a listening ear.
Emma Aba Badoe,
former Chairman,
Accra Diocesan Women’s Fellowship, Methodist Church, Ghana
Motherhood has changed so much now.
My era of mothers could discipline a disobedient child, whether the child was theirs or not. You could also offer them food when they visit your home.
There is that kind of love we showed to all children and I believe mothers in the past lived longer because of the love they extended to other people’s children.
Today, this is absent.
The family is now very nuclear – the mother, husband and children.
When a child visits their home and they’ve prepared meals, they are in a hurry for that child to leave so that they can serve their children the meals.
My understanding of mother is one who, after giving birth to a child, takes care of them till they grow up to be independent. It is not just about giving birth.
My message to mothers as we celebrate Mother’s Day is that they should learn to love their children equally without discriminating among them.
This is important because you cannot tell which of your children would grow up to take good care of you in future.
This love should not be limited to biological children only, but extended to children in the extended family and even those who have no relation to you.
There are so many blessings for women who show love to all children regardless of whether they are their biological children or not.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh