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Opinions of Thursday, 12 March 2015

Columnist: Prince Boakye Boampong

The role mothers play in our lives

It is another Mother’s day celebration, a day set aside to acknowledge and appreciate the women responsible for bringing us into this world, the women that has gone through thick and thin to ensure one’s comfortability and convenience both the living and the passed on heroines.

There is no fixed date for the celebration world over as it is celebrated on various days in March or May in many countries but typically three weeks before Easter celebration. This period marks the time for children and adults to get gifts for their mothers and also send messages laced with sentiments and love to appreciate mothers who through a lot, brought up them up properly with all the available resources she could lay hold on.

As expected in Ghana, Online shopping websites are insane this period as everyone is looking to benefit from the sales available for the mother’s day category available on the likes Kaymu Ghana , zoobashop.com where gift items are listed includes perfumes, dresses, wristwatches, Jewelry and other accessories for women.

The pivotal roles mothers play in the lives of their children cannot be quantified in monetary terms, they are to be modest, priceless. Even though we want to show some love by the token of our gifts and kind words, it is still not sufficient enough to match the labour of love our mothers have had over us as children. It is apposite to say hormonal chemistry between a pregnant woman and her fetus was the beginning of the bonding experience between mothers and children and it would really take a severe separation to be break that bond – that huge emotional attachment.

This explains why mothers tend to be closer to their children than the fathers, dissipating so much energy into ensuring the children receive proper care and treatment until they are able to take good care of themselves. As such, the roles mothers play in making us into what we eventually become is very crucial - ones that cannot be easily dismissed as minor.

In majority part of the world and most importantly Africa, Mothers are literally the pillars of their homes or family as they are naturally saddled with the responsibility of sustaining harmony that binds the family together, providing support, love and care. For the Mothers, it is a full time job and there are no excuses.

Even when emotionally unbalanced, she has to attend to her growing children and be sure they are happy. The care and tutelage a mother provides her child is vital to say the least that is the reason the way the child turns out is solely dependent on the mother irrespective of the morals bestowed on the child.

While there are mothers who are not useful to their families, there are some that are dutiful and responsible - these are the ones qualified to be tagged Mothers.

Speaking from a less broad perspective and focusing on Ghana, The attitude of many adults today is as a result of how they were shaped by virtue of the kind of environment they came from and their storehouses of experience. This is where the vital role of the mother comes in. The ideal environment to raise a child is a warm and caring home where he will learn and imbibe values which would eventually be put to use upon attaining maturity.

Before all else, a mother's obligation to her child and family is of a greater importance, and this is a learn-as-you-go job for the woman who has the huge responsibilities hanging on her shoulders albeit with a considerable measure of support from the Father.

However, for the single moms, it is a different story and a two-fold obligation especially here in Ghana;

1. Provision of basic needs, support and care for the child

2. Provision of substantial income to feed the family

It will then be safe to say for mothers in marriage bringing up a child is difficult and on the other side of the divide, the difficulty is in the extreme when it concerns single mothers whose children have no fatherly figure to look up to.

The role families play in shaping societal values and norms are generated from how parents were able to successfully train their children while growing. With proper family upbringing as facilitated by a good mother, the society is positively affected.

The habits and morals a child learns from childhood will shape the decisions and conduct of that child. The role of mothers is crucial here since her influence can either damage a child's life or help shape it positively.

The mother then is an essential part of the upbringing of her child (ren) and an indirect shaper of societal values by the direct influence she has on her child. Thus, considering the herculean role mothers play, they are to be cared for in return, loved and appreciated.

As earlier mentioned, there are a lot of gifts to buy for your mother not only on special days like the Mother's Day but also on other days; you can surprise her with gifts from a wide range of fashion products available on sale online to celebrate the hard work put into making you the career woman or ambitious Man you are today. This will be interpreted as a token of your love and sincere appreciation for your mother whether you both live miles apart or not.