The world is becoming more complex than it was many years ago and that has even made the role of a mother even more challenging. As a result of this, many moms have always wondered how they can fulfill their role as a mother.
So it is only natural to wonder about answers to questions such as: “How to fulfill my role as a mother” and “Am I doing enough as a mom?
Mothers are quite important in every aspect of a child’s development. Children tend to do well when they have a secure relationship with the people around them, most especially, their parents.
And as the main presence in a child’s life, mothers impact what a child learns most. She becomes the teacher who guides the child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth.
Moms play a gigantic part in their kids’ lives, paying attention to them, caring for them, teaching, loving them, and considerably more.
The manner in which a child grows can be to a great extent credited to the job that their parental figures play in their lives, so what precisely is the job of a mother in a child’s advancement?
A vital role that a mother play is that of a nurturer. This word is mostly synonymous with “mother”. When a mother nurtures her kids well, love and goodness are stirred in the child’s heart. Because of our mother’s love, we learn how to love too.
For every minister, president, social worker, fashionista, specialist, doctor, and lawyer among others, there is a mother behind them who nurtured her child to arrive at his/her maximum potential.
Before you start feeling overwhelmed by all that is expected of motherhood, you should realize that the perfect mother doesn’t exist. Take a step back and give yourself some slack.
Here are some vital things you should work on first to help you be a better version of yourself, and a better mother.
How to Becoming a Better Version of Yourself as a Mom
1. Love and pamper yourself
Mothers are amazing and unique creatures in the way they unconditionally love their children. But what about unconditionally loving yourself? How often do you have a critical voice in your mind judging your efforts in the ways you take care of your children? Or when you indulge in pampering yourself?
Loving and accepting yourself is the first step to sharing love and light with everyone and everything surrounding you. Spend some “me time” to just indulge in what you love doing.
Take trips now and then, do some shopping just for you, eat that meal you’ve been craving, go to that dance with friends, and laugh when you want to.
Basically, just live and enjoy living. Motherhood is a full-time job and tends to drain a person mentally and physically. This is why you should do things that will rejuvenate and make you feel good outside of your 24hours full job.
2. Care for your health
One of the best things you can do to fulfill your role as a mother is to take care of yourself; your body and your mind. Many women are accustomed to placing themselves last when it comes to family.
They become so centered around giving everything while never having a break that they either become ill, angry, or fail to remember what it is like to support themselves.
By setting aside time to really focus on yourself and exercising frequently, you will be able to stay grounded and this will permit you to care for your children and others in your life with pleasure.
3. Be a good role model
Love your child and show them “love” through actions like embraces, spending time with them, and paying attention to them.
Be a place of refuge. Children raised by consistent and reliable guardians will have better social and emotional development.
Work on strengthening your relationship with your spouse. If these areas fail, your child may suffer too.
Now that you comprehend that the state of your mind goes a long way in how you support and nurture your children, here are a few pointers to assist you with getting into your role as a mother. Do these things and your children will be grateful they have you as their mother:
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5 Pointers to Help You Fulfill Your Role as a Mother
1. Learn to apologize.
We are all humans; mothers are no exception. Sometimes, we get very angry and say or do things we don’t mean out of anger, but it is vital to learn the skill of apologizing.
This is not advice to say sorry for just anything, instead, learn to apologize when you do or say something that hurts someone or impacts your child one way or the other.
2. Spend quality time with your children.
Most often, mothers are usually pulled in different directions especially when they have to work and support their children. This causes us to spend less time with our wards. This doesn’t mean it is impossible; we just have to make time with our children a priority to fulfill our roles as mothers.
Be curious about their everyday activities; make them a part of your time and you will be surprised by the wonders of your little ones. Nothing brings more fulfillment than spending quality time with your children and caring for them.
3. Be open to your child’s feedback
Children send numerous messages through their actions even more than words. listen when they have something to say, watch out and understand their non-verbal communications.
You may not agree with their criticism, feedback, and comments. But, giving your child time and attention to air their thoughts goes a long way to building their self-confidence. It’s also a way to fulfill your role as a mother.
Read: Steps to Meeting the Challenges of Motherhood
4. Express your feelings.
Showing your kids how to manage their feelings is a significant lesson for young ones. If at any point, you are experiencing an emotion, for instance having a bad day, explain your sentiments to them especially if it’s affecting your general conduct.
Explain to your kid, “Mama is feeling upset about something that happened today so I might be somewhat quiet; I hope you understand.”
Talking with your kids helps their brains integrate.
When every piece of the brain is coordinated, they function agreeably and lead to more cooperative conduct.
In addition to the fact that these types of interaction assist with healthy mood management, it also helps your kid to comprehend that your feeling bad or down is not the aftereffect of something they did.
Children regularly prefer to fill in the gap when figuring the world out. They do so by thinking everything that goes wrong around them is somewhat their fault.
5. Don’t take your child’s misbehavior personally.
Independence and development frequently bring about conflict—your plan versus the plan of your kid.
In your times of frustration, attempt to see the message your kid is trying to convey. Don’t take his/her conduct as a personal slight. It probably has more to do with your child’s growth than you personally.
All in all, motherhood is an individual journey with many general and common experiences and emotions: moments of stress, dread, outrage, dissatisfaction, worry, sadness, fatigue, despair, humiliation, bliss, gratitude, satisfaction, and happiness.
As mothers, when we get embroiled in trying to be perfect, we lose a chance to see how our challenging feelings—the ones that stretch us and push us to our limit—are the emotions that help us be better, or show us how strong we can actually be.
A healthy mother is a basis for a decent and cheerful life. Keep in mind, that your kid needs a healthy version of you—not perfection. Your role as a mother will be fulfilled when all these pointers are put into action.
Photo by Bethany Beck on Unsplash
