With the evolution of living organisms on earth, the concept of family structure has been predominant, not only in humans (where there is an existence of social structure as well) but in animals as well.
I am sure all of us might have noticed at some point or the other, in the zoo or nature, how grown-up monkeys teach their young ones to climb down a tree, or how a tiger teaches the cub to prey. We have surely admired how the pups and kittens are lovingly taken care of by their mother.
Be it human beings or the animals—mothers always tend to their kids. All of us know the importance of mothers in our lives—they not only give us birth but are a prominent part throughout our lives. She is a child’s first friend and the first teacher as well. She is an integral part of all the milestones of our lives and a witness to many firsts: the first day of school, college and job, the first step of a baby, the first word of a baby and many more!
With time, motherhood has evolved much more. While traditionally, the life of a mother revolved only around the needs and wants of a child, mothers today are balancing the child’s needs as well as their own with, of course, the child’s needs taking the precedence.
Earlier, the mother used to ignore her being and solely invested in the development of the children. This did not always result in a positive outcome. When the children became grown-ups and much more absorbed in themselves, the mother tends to feel ignored and left out, which in turn took a detrimental toll on her mental health.
Today, mothers focus on themselves—their career, dreams, health and general well being, which is a progressive step in society. Today’s mothers are well-read, more informed, opinionated and open-minded. With mothers trying to balance both the worlds, home and outside, this is helping the fathers get much more involved in the lives of children as well, hence making the family a more close-knit unit. Today, we have all type of mothers: single mothers, surrogate mothers, working mothers, stay-at-home-mothers; all of whom are respectable and commendable.
While some people argue that we do not need a special day to celebrate the mothers, I would say that we can mark this day as a start of something different. I am sure before our moms actually became moms, they were passionate about something or the other—be it writing, or painting, or singing or dancing, and so on. This mother’s day, let us try to re-ignite those passions in them and help them connect to themselves. Let us try to find out their hobbies and encourage them to pursue that. We, as children, must encourage our mothers to give importance to themselves, and indulge in self-care, which is not selfish but much needed.
In the end, I would just like to say that we need to recognize how much our mothers love us and how much they sacrificed to make you who you are today. This mother’s day, let us acknowledge the spirit of motherhood and the wonderful experiences we have had because of them.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers… You have been the best!