Responsible mother, a happy mother

Sunday, May 12, was Mother’s Day.

A day on which we honour and appreciate mothers and mother figures for the invaluable role they have been playing in society and especially, in the lives of children.

It is a well-known fact that mothers make a lot of sacrifices to bring up their children and run the home.

Sometimes, they do this while relegating their own well-being to the background.

The feeding, health and daily running of the home including ensuring that the home is clean has generally been the preserve of mothers.

But for mothers, many children would be uneducated, malnourished and would lack the necessary protection and direction to go through life.

A mother’s love is said to be so unique.

However, our society has also known some mothers and mother figures who have acted in ways that have proved detrimental to the very existence of their children.

There are mothers who continue to abuse children by not nurturing them and seeing to their needs; even the request for food when a child is hungry could lead to showers of insults, referring the child to his or her irresponsible father as though the child asked to be born.

There have been mothers who have left home, abandoning their children and leaving them to their fate even as babies, causing some to be street children.

Society has also documented how some stepmothers have abused children just because they are not their biological children.

What is even worrying in recent times is the general feeling of insecurity that has engulfed our society. This has been occasioned by ritual murders and kidnapping of children.

The unresolved disappearance of the three Takoradi girls is still fresh on our minds.

A two-year old boy in Kasoa was taken from his home and later found dead nearby with some body parts missing.

In spite of these state of affairs, it is still not uncommon to see children sometimes as young as two and three years walking alone to school or on errands.

I equally get concerned seeing children in tears as their mothers escort them with the cane to school.

What has happened to the tact and love that mothers have been naturally given?

Such scenes undermine the perception that our mothers are wise, caring and kind.

Which mother with the above attributes will expose a child to the vagaries mentioned above?

Even where security is not an issue, how about vehicular knock-downs which are equally high among such unattended to children?

Some mothers have blamed this on their tight schedule and how if they don’t move at dawn, school fees will not be paid, medical bills will not be honoured and there will be no food for the family. Some are even quick to quote the overused quote that God protects the innocent.

So why this unfortunate accidents in spite of God’s protection?

Life is about making choices and prioritising them and it is my firm belief that the safety and well-being of our children must be very high on every mother’s agenda.

A little more responsibility is therefore paramount.

Domestic accidents such as children locked in an abandoned vehicle, drowned in a well, drinking poisonous substances or burnt while sleeping alone with candles must be consigned to the past. This is even more imperative considering the traumatic experiences mothers go through when their children suffer such accidents.

It is equally important for women in these modern times to plan their families by having a manageable number of children so that they would not put them through unnecessary hardship.

The times when women had so many children because they were not sure of survival rates are long past.

With a manageable family size , mothers can show more love to the children.

As we wish our mothers a happy mother’s day, we ask them to exhibit the tenets of true motherhood.

The key ingredients of bringing up children in love, kindness, firmness and in a Godly manner must always be the driving force.

This will ensure that their children grow up as responsible adults who will never take for granted the good foundation laid for them.

Writer’s E-mail: doreen.hammond@graphic.com.gh / aamakai@rocketmail.com