In honour of mothers around the world, today March 19th is celebrated as Mother’s Day. Though the celebration occurs in various ways and different parts of the world, the core of the message is that mothers are being celebrated.
Mother’s Day acknowledges and celebrates the contributions of mothers to humanity. It is celebrating their innate gift of being nurturers in their home, family, community and nation as a whole.
In nurturing, many have inspired their girl-child to be carers and multitasking, an attribute they also learnt from their own mothers.
Bimpe is a businesswoman whose catering services has taken her to places she never thought she would get to. She grew up watching her mother and learning how to cook from her. Her mother was one of the best caterers in her time before she passed on, and Bimpe remembers going with her to the market to buy food items for the event she was paid to serve at.
Though a graduate of Economics, Bimpe has her business as a caterer, so she earns money from her salary and from her side hustle. “My mother inspired my passion for cooking and it is serving me well. Sometimes, when my salary is delayed, my side hustle serves as my support”. She said.
Beyond engaging in businesses to have various streams of income, today’s mothers are more enlightened and conscious of their legal rights and are exposed to digital information on how to multitask effectively, thereby taking care of themselves, their children and their home.
The modern mother understands she must be in the right frame of mind before she is able to nurture her home. She understands that the world is evolving and as such, she must align with these changes and positively influence her family. She sees the need for aligning and re-aligning her time, relationships, career, family and so on. However, many are still in tune with their upbringing and despite the necessary alignments needed, they agree that who they have become, and many things they have learnt, was through the guidance of their mothers.
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“As a top-level executive in my organisation, because my work demands a lot of attention, I have been able to balance it well because I watched how my mother, though not educated, was able to manage the home and 4 other businesses that brought her steady income. Modernisation is not an excuse for laziness. If my mother did, then I can, and that is what has influenced me till date.” Lola, C-suite executive in a corporate organisation stated.
There is no hiding the truth in saying that raising a morally responsible child in 2023 is more challenging than it was 40 years ago. With endless revolving lists of wants, mothers often have to find a way to help their children match their fairy tales with reality.
However, mothers, amongst other responsibilities, need to be mothers of the future. They need to be forward thinking as they willingly bridge the generation gap in relating with their children to build better relationships with them.
Whether in doing their best to manage demanding work schedules and family responsibilities, and by extension nurturing the society and nation at large, being a mother in this era comes with a lot of challenges nevertheless, she is able to.
As the world celebrates mothers today, it is a call to celebrate all that motherhood represents today and always.
