Parenting Standards: Motherhood Does Not Equate To Perfection

I have been motherless for a decade. As I remember my mom, I always remember an angry person at one side and a sweet one on the other. She was my terror teacher and most emotional counselor.

When I was young, I always feared her. She was not the coolest I thought because she was always nagging, shouting, controlling, and tell you what, everything flies from her slippers, to blackboard erasers, and books all over as well. This is because she wanted me to master my studies. She has got the most draining training for me as a student but it all paid well. I thought she was just crazy but her work did not go in vain. I would say, she is definitely the coolest because if she was not, I would not be as disciplined as I have been and not finish my studies with flying colors. I am now a master's degree holder from a prestigious international school, finishing as cum laude. Not something to brag about but this is because of the patience of my mom over the years when she was still alive.

Now who says that bad moms are non sense? An Argus Leader writer named Jacqueline said that bad moms are not bad enough. She has related her own story and asserted that it is true based on her experiences. She said she is not a cool mom and most of the time, she messes up and disappoint her kids. But being a good mom does not mean you have to attain perfection. The kids are the true authority when it comes to judging who the best mom is.

There is actually no handbook for perfect parenting. The skills in parenting just come naturally and develop in the process of rasing a child. It also depends on the culture. Parenting is also not the only factor that affects the growth of a kid in all areas of life. A psychologist named Richard Nisbett said that kids develop their minds unknowingly according to his principle called the geography of thought . Human cognition differs especially according to the location on earth or in a certain locality.

As an African proverb says, "It takes a village to raise a child", it is not just the parents' who work hard to mold a child. The community where he or she is raised up also has a great contribution to make. My mom herself brought me out to the community as I witness her use her own hands to reach out to kids and the poor. Now I am a missionary too. And her worldview was a huge factor that affects my own worldview today.