News Gleaner Online - What it means to be Mother

What it means to be Mother

BY NANCY ROCKS
Special to the News Gleaner

My life changed when I was twenty-three. Just five short years after high school, I became a mother. I held angelic little Michael in my arms, and I felt it: I am this baby's mother. I am responsible for raising him to adulthood: loving him, teaching him. Wait a minute! What do I know about being a mother? What does it mean to be a mother?

"Mother - n: A female that has borne an offspring; A creative source - v: To (give birth to; To create and care for; To watch over, nourish and protect." The American Heritage Dictionary definition, although accurate, fails to account for the full connotation of "Mother".

Essence of Mother
· From the very beginning, the dictionary definition is inadequate. The essence of Mother is gazing at the astonishing miracle she has created. Mother is unwrapping the blanket and counting all 10 fingers and 10 toes. Mother is nervous, inexperienced fumbling when changing that first diaper. Mother implies the tender moments of rocking her baby and reading Goodnight Moon. Mother is the guilt-ridden anxiety of watching baby cry with colic. Mother often means being tired, so very tired. Mother means the proud delight of hearing his first words and the apprehensive joy of watching him take his first steps. Mother means rushing her infant to the hospital the first time he has a fever.

Walking the halls
To be sure, another nuance of Mother is learning to handle such calamities. Mother means sponging down her child when he has the flu; running a vaporizer when he has a cough, and cleaning up the carpet when he gets sick in the night. My Michael grew into an energetic, active boy. More often than I care to remember, Mother meant taking him to a stitches earned on a ski trip, or dashing from work because the school principal called to say he broke his arm. Oh, yes, and how could Mother not mean the time I cried when the same principal called to say that Andrew had five teeth knocked out by a classmate's errant feet?

A lighter implication may be that Mother means playing and teaching and having fun. Mother means introducing the children to the animals at the Zoo, to the third floor of the Franklin Institute; and to the armor room in the Museum of Art. Mother means buying a telescope and setting it up on the roof to show the kids what a comet looks like. Mother means teacher conferences homework quizzes. and dioramas.

Lincoln said it best
Abraham Lincoln himself wrote an affectionate definition: "She was the best friend I ever had.... All that I am, I owe to my angel mother." Mother means being proud of each accomplishment, regardless if it's grand or humble. Mother means saving every memento, every drawing, every plaster of paris valentine heart. Mother means crying at kindergarten graduations. Mother means tenderly arranging dandelions in a vase. Mother means covering the refrigerator with drawings of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Mother means respecting the kids by attending their ballet recitals Christmas pageants and school plays. And the ball games: soccer, basketball, football, softball, and baseball. One of the most treasured moments of my life happened last year. It was the day before Mother's Day, and I was watching Andrew's baseball game. He hit a Grand Slam - his very first Grand Slam. After triumphantly rounding the bases, he walked over to me and said, "That's for you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day."

Yes, indeed, that's what Mother means.

Back to Front Page | News Archives | Contact Us | Advertising