As I thought over this past Mother’s day and the many blessings I have received as a mother, I thought also about the hugely commercialized celebration it has become over the years, a far cry from the original thinking process of its creator Anna M. Jarvis, who campaigned for this day in 1908 in remembrance of her own deceased mother and in honour of peace.

And then my thoughts led me to the amazing gifts we are given as mothers…the gifts of being the vehicle of bringing new life into the world, of nurturing, training and equipping a new human being to take a responsible place in the world, and a gift of also learning from that individual in ways we sometimes never think.

As a new mother, did you ever think of the daunting responsibility of being the primary care-taker for one so helpless and totally dependent on you for love, for care, and for protection? Or was your singing heart too filled with love to worry about such a trifling problem?

I believe in the adage that mothers rule the world. I also believe that we have the capacity to leave huge legacies of change through the way we teach and raise our children. As I think back to my own child-rearing activities, a few ideas of what creates a beautiful relationship between mother and child, and what can create a positive impact on the world around us and beyond comes to mind.

1) Being a good Mom means having the ability to be there when needed, and to understand that the need is not always physical, but emotional as well. It means being prepared to listen, and to sometimes hear with the heart what is not being heard through the spoken word.

2) Motherhood means giving guidance, but allowing a child to make its own decisions in areas that will enhance growth and promote responsibility. It means not living vicariously through your children but giving them the freedom to make choices about the roles and goals they set themselves.

3) The ability to be a great mother means acceptance of situations that does not conform necessarily to your idea of what is normal. It means being the individual who has the implicit trust of your child, and the knowledge that he knows you will always be there for him, and believe in him and the possibility of his dreams no matter what.

4) An astute mother is one who will teach her child the riches of a diverse world, and the need for compromise in the world in which we live. She will teach him the beauty of showing appreciation, the joys of finding his own strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to laugh at himself.

5) A wise mother teaches the beauty of competitiveness without the need for ruthlessness, and creates memories that last a lifetime and beyond.

I was intrigued once when my then nine year old asked me what were my expectations of him. I replied that while I had none, my hope and prayer was that he would aspire to be the best that he could be, at whatever path he chose for his life’s journey.

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