The formation of a good mother

What makes a good mother? It is a relevant question whose answer cannot be contained in a few words. Motherhood involves a set of emotions that sometimes defy reason. Words are not enough to describe what a good mother is and it takes one to know her. But maybe seeing how my wife is doing with our kids is my own way of saying what a great mother she is to our kids.

I remember seeing my wife who couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks every time she saw and held our baby in her arms for the first time after giving birth. The severed umbilical cord separates the child from the mother after childbirth, but not the affective bond that infinitely unites every mother with her child. A kind of affection that continues to grow over the years.

I search for words to describe a scene watching my wife on countless nights read bedtime stories to our sweet angels who still insist on reading it again. “Just one more time, please.” How she taught our children to tie their shoes even before they started school. Seeing her up all night with our sick son in her arms constantly uttering those compassionate words. “It’s okay baby, mommy is here.”

A mother is a gift from God to a child in the same way that a future mother is grateful for having the blessing of having a child that she has carried within her for nine months. Mother is also unique creation of God. Weak and so gentle but capable of doing things beyond our imagination. I remember one time my wife rushed from her office to school in no time to attend to our two daughters who were about to give a presentation. Defy all odds just to see our kids perform, she yells from the crowd, “that’s my son!” and back to the office as if nothing happened. Kind of a tough feat for me to top.

Motherhood can sometimes turn life’s mistakes into fun. Going to work with milk stains on your office uniform can be normal for a working mom like her. I couldn’t help but laugh at her story about how she discovered a used baby bottle while she was on public transportation on her way to work.

I can see the creation of a good mother in her way of drawing the line between love and discipline without losing love completely. How he says ‘NO’ to our children when they clamor for ice cream before dinner but silently shed tears rejecting their pleas. The mother instinct defies the limit of biological affection every time she turns her head incontinently at the word “mama,” even though she knows her children are nowhere to be found.

A mom whose heart aches to watch our preschooler his first time in school while our youngest son disappears down the hall walking to school alone for the first time. How fear for the safety of our own children engulfs a mother who sat in front of the television watching an accident involving children and immediately latched onto our son who had just arrived safely from school. So if you ask me what a good mother is. I will answer it by describing this special person in my life. A woman I call Jembie, my wife of 16 years without whom life would have been unbearable.