Creating Healthier Lives

5 Essential Parenting Lessons I Learned from My Mom

Posted by on May 13, 2012 in Announcements

5 Essential Parenting Lessons I Learned from My Mom

I am blessed to be a mother of three beautiful children—Savannah, Kennedy, and Jack. They brighten my days, lengthen my nights, and, what’s more, they warm my heart!

I love being a mom because my children inspire me to be a better me, and they continue to remind me of what is most important in life:  simple life lessons that stay with us into adulthood. My children make me glad that I am their mom.

There is no handbook to being a mom. Believe me, I have searched everywhere and read all I could find, but nothing really prepares you for the joys and the challenges of motherhood. I’ve learned many things along the way through my own personal experiences, but what has helped the most is what my mom taught me:

  1. “This, too, shall pass.” I have whispered this on many sleepless nights or during cranky temper tantrums!
  2. “You are stronger than you think you are.” My mom raised me as a single mom; she was strong and independent, and I loved and respected this about her.
  3. “People matter, things don’t.” Relationships are important, not material possessions. This message especially resonated with me after my first car accident!
  4. “Education matters, but the best book you will ever read will be your Bible.” I’ve found it to be the best road map for my life.
  5. “If you believe it, you will achieve it.” Simply put, never give up on your dreams!

Thank you, Mom, for teaching me these lessons and so much more! I will carry them forward to our next generation, and I hope they continue to pass to future generations.

My message to all of you blog readers on this Mother’s Day is don’t forget to thank your mom for all the things she has done for you! Do you have an important life lesson you’ve learned from your mom? Please share them in the comments section below.

  • Kathy

    I changed some of the things my mother did, but the basics stuck.  I didn’t spank as often as did she, but I learned to realize that sometimes a swat or two does wonders at gaining attention.  Looking back, she didn’t spank us as often as it seemed at the time, but she took care of business — none of that, “wait ’til your father gets home!” nonsense.

    I learned the value of going for a walk or weeding a flower bed or some other means of temporarily walking away from a fight and blowing off steam before the conversation got too stupid.  Of course, my folks didn’t let too much of the “discussion” get out to us kids.  Little did either of us know how long a “walk” could end up being once a kid is grown and following a course with which she didn’t agree.I watched her cope with a mother-in-law who never forgave her for the transgression of stunting the opportunities of an oldest son.  How she did the best she could through repeated bouts of anemia and migraines, and the ravages of a genetic disease (now known as HHT and easy to find on Google) that contributed to at least one of those conditions with moderately frequent and sometimes uncontrollable nose bleeds.  She bore frequent criticism for her housekeeping, but through the clutter, she usually managed to fix dinner, sew clothes for the four girls, keep the family books, and do pretty much all but grocery shopping without a driver’s license until well after I had married and left home.  She taught me that it’s perfectly acceptable to ride the bus or walk to a destination.

    She’s been gone now for about a year and a half, but at least we had begun some mending of fences before she passed.

  • Rita

    My Mom was, and is, an amazing woman whose life example is one I am so proud to follow.  Life is filled with challenges, and my Mom said her hope for us is that we would always do our best and be satisfied with the results.  I have passed onto my children and grandchildren this same concept.

  • Kathryn Farries

    You don’t have to be perfect. Express your love to those you love. Laugh and have fun. Listen more, advise less. Be true to yourself.

  • Cathy

    My Mom always told us to “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you”.  She told us to live by this golden rule and we will live a happy life.  She was always there for us and comfort us when we were sick.  She always said to think of other people first before you think of yourself.  We lost her when I was 15 and miss her every day.  She is always with me in spirit.  Within my 15 years, she taught me so much that I have taken with me in my life.  I have now passed a lot of what she taught me down to my 3 boys.  Thank you “Mom” for everything you taught me.  Love you Always! 

  • Marcela D Rodriguez

    Love words of insipration

  • Silvia Rodriguez Ramos

    What beautiful reminder on this Mother’s Day! We are beautiful women because we have or had beautiful mothers that give/gave us their love, showed us the way in life, and shared with us words of wisdom! Although my mother is now deceased (died of cancer at age 57), she left me with a beautiful reminder and words of wisdom, “my generation is phasing out, so build and nurture your relationships now, so that when you go through a personal and painful crisis such as a loss of a loved one you won’t feel so alone, instead you will have loving support to hold you through” (she said this to me on the night her sister died 10 months before my mother died). My mother was our moral compass and strong and loving support, especially when my father died 17 years before (she lost both her husband, my dad, and her mother, was in a terrible car accident and had a total hysterectomy all at the same time within few days apart). She helped her mother raise her 4 siblings as her mother became a single parent. My mother was full of love and shared it with so many people! Thank you “Mom” the woman that gve me life, taught me so many valuable life lessons and words of wisdom all with so much tender loving care!

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