As Mother’s Day approaches this coming Sunday, I am warmly reminded of the time my grandmother, Lillie Mae Jones, spent with me at The Pines Motel Restaurant on the Columbus-Opelika Highway. Every month as a young child, a teenager and on, I looked forward to those monthly afternoon dinners with my grandmother. She would treat me to a delicious meal and we would sip coffee as she would mentor and teach me about life.
When I was a young child, she would be sure to put plenty of milk and sugar in my coffee. I know with each of her grandchildren she would make us feel that we were the only one in her world when she would spend time sharing her life experiences with us and applying it to our lives. She shared the Bible with us and she would pray for us which is the greatest gift a child can receive. Her heartfelt advice prepared me to face the joys, valleys and bumps in the road that life would bring me.
She taught me to allow God to steward my happiness, losses and life in trying to outreach and help others. I am so thankful that she shared this with me as a young child because it entered my heart and led me to what God called me to do — to teach and outreach to young children and their families. Grandmother’s advice is truly what mothers do in teaching and sharing with their children.
There are so many female role models that have touched my life through their actions of teaching, nurturing, guiding and sharing. I know many of you and many of our children are touched by women who love and care for them from the heart, and that is the way Classroom Observer looks at this when I say “Happy Mother’s Day.”
In the United States, Miss Anna Jarvis at Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where her mother had served as a Sunday School teacher for more than 20 years, celebrated the first Mother’s Day. This was in honor of her late mother, Mrs. Jarvis, who had held “Mother’s Friendship Day,” to heal the pain of the Civil War. Anna’s steady campaign moved President Woodrow Wilson to declare that Mother’s Day should be celebrated as a national holiday on the second Sunday in May. One central truth about mothering is “that mothering matters.” Mothering not only affects children and families, but it affects communities, towns and the world.
As a teacher of young children, early childhood is such a critical time in a child’s life of bonding, learning, the molding of a child’s personality, learning how to adjust and socially interacting with other children, as well as adults. Not only does a child’s ability to learn happen at an early age but their ability to love is a need at an early age. A mother’s nurturing love and the people who touch your child’s life at an early age builds the foundation of the child’s ability to adjust to his or her environment. The bonding that happens with folks who love them affects a child’s entire self-structure, who they are and identity.
A scripture that definitely is a model for mothering is Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
A recipe for mothering could follow these steps. This is a review that I would like to gently remind readers with on this upcoming Mother’s Day weekend.
1. Take a gallon of love. This ingredient is one we need so much of. 1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Young children love to sing songs of love for each other. It is joy to a mother’s heart and ears to receive hugs and hearing the words, “I Love You.”
2. Sprinkle in a dash of joy. Young children seem to understand the path of journeying to joy. They love to clap and sing. Happiness is conditioned by and often dependent on what is “happening to me,” but joy is truly a divine dimension not shackled by circumstances.
3. Weigh out a pound of peace. When teaching young children about peace, as parents we stress it as being content and happy. Mothers are the ones who usually model and direct peace with their children in getting along.
4. Throwing a pinch of patience is such an asset in this fast paced world. Young children want to quickly share facts and experiences in their lives. This may take on the form of interrupting other children. I instruct my children when I am reading or teaching to put their fingers over their lips if they are having a hard time being patient. Too, we can tell our children to “keep that thought” until it is their turn to speak.
5. Pour in a cup of kindness. When we, as families, model kindness it seems to spread everywhere. Assigning kindness chores to young children, such as helping mother set the table, pick up toys or clean their room, can be an act of kindness on Mother’s Day, too. Some families cook breakfast for their mother, make a special, child-made card or just let Mother rest on her special day.
6. Measure out a tablespoon of goodness. Goodness is doing what is right in the sight of the Lord and man.
7. Pour in a quart of faithfulness, which is love hanging on. This is done through prayer. Young children love to pray. With their young hearts, they believe in prayer. They trust and know that God will keep his promises.
8. Pour in a pint of gentleness. In gentleness we think of humility and mercy. Guiding children to think of others is part of gentleness. This is a wonderful intergenerational relationship trait. I was so touched a few weeks ago when one of my preschoolers noticed I was having some trouble with a sore foot and was having trouble walking. She quietly slipped her hand in mine without being told and helped me walk to the playground. This truly won my heart.
9. The last step of our recipe is a bowl of self-control, which rounds out the flavor of this life recipe. Self-control for children means that they obey their parents and adults.
As I conclude this article, I go back to a cozy little corner in a restaurant once a month with my grandmother spending time with me. Spending time with our children is truly a great gift we can share with our families. This coming weekend, spend time with your mothers, which does spell “Love” to the one you call Mother, Mom, Mommy. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day to our community.
Classroom Observer
Beth Pinyerd