Author: Divya Badri
Mother: The first to handhold you and teach you
On Mothers Day, let us look at just four kinds of mothers there are out there in this world :
- The Thinking Mother: She may be the one who philosophizes and writes poetry and teaches her child to appreciate Tagore. “Where the mind is without fear and the head is high…” and makes it the foundation of her child’s upbringing.
- The Caregiving Mother: She may be the one who takes on heavy caregiving responsibilities at home keeps track of the pantry is stocked, fridge being full, clean towels and toilets, bills paid and personal hygienes of all members in family maintained and ensures the first aid kit is always updated.
- The Verbal Mother: She teaches you to talk, she sings with you, she helps you with your homework. These language skills eventually will help you develop issues and discourses.
- The Sporty Mother: She either goes jogging with you or drives you to your weekly sports training. She does yoga with you and teaches you meditation techniques.
Watch: Mindfulness vs Yoga
A mother may be one of these or all these rolled into one for there are as many kinds of mothers as there are personality types in this world. More than a mother, does she play yet another role? As we get more and more involved in years of formal education that keeps us focussed for almost 15 years of our youth on daily school routines, tests, evaluations, let us take a moment to ask ourselves what the mission of a teacher is. It teaches a language to convey thought? Is it to teach socializing through interactive” process with fellow humans? Is it to get life skills? Is it to learn to be self- confident and independent? Is it to light the flame of critical thinking? Who plays an important role in a person’s social and professional prospects?
Who really is our teacher?
If she lights the flame of critical thinking, curiosity, and self–confidence to become independent humans, then clearly, the Mother is the first teacher. She instills liberal ideals in the child, that provides it with confidence in their own abilities, and the need for hard work to develop them tirelessly.
If a mother passes on these skills to her child, she teaches valuable life skills and the Mother is a teacher. Caregiving comes so many responsibilities that lead to invaluable skills that a Mother develops.
If she is involved in the development of her child’s physical and emotional development, creative thinking, and self-esteem, then the Mother is a teacher. Responsible for fostering her child’s socialization, she indirectly and directly contributes to the formation of an autonomous, free, and responsible person.
If a mother’s available for her child, she is likely to encourage the development of empathy and self-confidence in her child, since the child is receiving benevolent attention.
What are the learning outcomes you receive from a mother? Is it about knowledge learned (life skills, social skills, personal hygiene skills, etc.)? Or is it about demonstrating a good capacity to lead a globally coherent thinking process, with an analytical work that moves the reflection forward, the pleasure of thinking? Or is it about empathy and encouraging progress with openness and kindness? If it is about any of these or all of these, then certainly, a mother is to be credited as being the first teacher of her child. And the evaluation would be the end result of just being the adult you are. On Mother’s Day, we remember who our first teacher is and wish Mother, teacher a Happy Mother’s Day.
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