Mothering to build a nation

I have always wondered what it is like to have a female figure around through thick and thin. You see, my personal life is not as perfect as the family in the TV series 7th Heaven and I have always thought of how a mother would feel towards her children.

There was a time when annulment and divorce were alien to Philippine society. In fact, we Filipinos are highly regarded for our close family ties. We are the type of people who cannot live without family. Even children who become professionals opt to stay with their parents than move out and live alone. Filipino houses are filled with a lot of relatives from grandparents to aunts to in-laws and so on. We used to be the model of a happy family.

Yet, what has happened now? Mothers have become younger and younger by the year. There are no longer extended families. Lola and lolo can now be placed in someone else’s care inside the home for the aged or be left alone in the province. Kuya leaves right after college to start a family and ate wants to start her career alone. Both never come home during holidays and the youngest wants to do the same. Basic families are now only a group of two - a mother and a child, sometimes it’s the other way around. We are on a decline once again.

A lot of children are now living in broken homes. This tragic situation results to a depressed and rebellious child. A huge percentage of children eye suicide as an option, thinking that ending their lives would be the best solution to get out of the mess their parents have created. They feel outcast and abnormal amongst other children. That is why the youth today have lost their direction. They find no reason to dream for a helpless country, they only want to find the happiness that they never had. It is a broken generation that needs to be fixed.

However, some families manage to stay intact. I’d like to believe it’s the mother who has glued such entity together. It is no joke to be a mother, a wife, and a career woman at the same time. If superwoman did exist, there’s one in each of our houses. This gives us all the more reason to salute mothers. In fact, it is not enough to honor these superwomen for just a day.

A mother’s love is very crucial. It shapes the character of a child. We, as a people, need to be mothered. We need to be mothered by the right people who would shape us into being great once again. A mother’s instinct always wants what’s best for the children, even if it means sacrifice. We need leaders who are willing to be that.

However, this dream may take time or may never be attained in the political arena for now. Yet, it is never too late to be mothers ourselves in the community that we are in to build this nation again. It starts with a simple family, the basic unit of society. If we go back to the strength of the Filipinos in having close family ties, I’m sure we can go as far as we can imagine. Nobody knows better than a mother. Like they say, mothers know best.

**Published in the Freeman newspaper last May 15, 2012