Celebrating Mother's Day: Honoring All Who Mother Us
"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."
Mother's Day offers a beautiful opportunity to expand our understanding of what it means to "mother." Beyond biological connections, mothering encompasses the nurturing, guidance, and unconditional love that helps us grow into our fullest selves. In many cultures around the world, the act of mothering extends beyond individual families to include community elders, teachers, aunts, neighbors, and friends who contribute to raising children with wisdom and care.
This Mother's Day, let's celebrate all the mother figures in our lives – those who have tended our hearts, nurtured our spirits, and helped shape who we are today. Below, I've outlined age-appropriate activities that honor the diverse forms of mothering that enrich our lives and communities.
Preschool
Exploring the Many Ways of Mothering
Young children naturally understand nurturing through their everyday experiences of being cared for. At this age, we can begin expanding their understanding that love and care come from many sources.
Activity: "Hearts of Gratitude" Garden
Create a beautiful "garden" of gratitude hearts to honor all who mother your child. Cut heart shapes from colorful paper, and on each one, help your little one add a fingerprint painting. As they paint, talk simply about a person who cares for them in some way – perhaps Grandma who reads stories, a teacher who helps them learn, or a neighbor who always has a kind word. Display these hearts on a windowsill or string them together as a garland, creating a visual reminder of the circle of care surrounding your child.
Lower Elementary
Recognizing Nurturing Relationships
Children at this age are developing a deeper understanding of relationships and can begin to appreciate the many ways people care for them beyond their immediate family.
Activity: Mother Nature's Wisdom Book
Create a small handmade book celebrating "mother wisdom" from various sources. Use pressed flowers, leaves, or herbs between pages of cardstock paper bound with yarn or ribbon. On each page, help your child write or dictate wisdom shared by different nurturing figures in their life – a special saying from Grandma, a lesson from a coach, comfort words from a family friend. Include Mother Nature's wisdom too, with observations about how the earth nurtures us with food, beauty, and seasons. This becomes a treasured keepsake of the collective mothering that guides their growth.
Upper Elementary
Honoring Various Forms of Nurturing
Children in this age group can more deeply understand and appreciate the different ways people contribute to their wellbeing and development.
Activity: "Circle of Care" Tea Ceremony
Host a special tea ceremony honoring those who mother in different ways. Help your child send simple invitations to maternal figures in their life – aunts, grandmothers, special teachers, neighbors who watch out for them. Prepare simple herbal tea and baked goods together. During the gathering, place a beautiful candle in the center of the table. As you enjoy tea together, invite each person to share a brief story about someone who mothered them. Light the candle as you begin, symbolizing how the light of care passes from person to person across generations and relationships. Your child might prepare simple handmade gifts – perhaps herb sachets, seed packets, or gratitude notes – to give to guests.
Middle School
Understanding the Cultural Dimensions of Mothering
Middle schoolers can begin to appreciate how mothering is expressed across different cultures and traditions, deepening their understanding of this universal human experience.
Activity: "Wisdom Keepers" Interviews and Herbal Bundles
Guide your middle schooler in researching how different cultures honor those who mother. Then, help them prepare questions and interview several important nurturing figures in their life about wisdom these individuals would like to pass on. Your child can create beautiful herbal bundles as gifts for each person interviewed – researching herbs that have traditional meanings of gratitude, wisdom, or strength across cultures. They might include rosemary for remembrance, lavender for peace, or mint for joy. As they carefully wrap each bundle with natural twine, they can reflect on the specific gifts each person has shared with them. The interviews could be compiled in a small book, preserved as a reminder of the diverse wisdom that nurtures them.
High School
Exploring Mothering as a Universal Human Experience
Teens can engage with deeper philosophical and cultural understandings of what it means to mother and be mothered across human experience.
Activity: "Global Mothering Traditions" Feast and Reflection
Work with your teen to research and prepare dishes from different cultures that honor mothering traditions. They might make Irish soda bread, Greek honey cake, Japanese onigiri rice balls, or Mexican conchas – foods that carry cultural significance related to nurturing and care. Invite important mentor figures to share in this feast. During the meal, your teen could facilitate a meaningful conversation about how different cultures and traditions honor the act of nurturing. After the gathering, encourage them to create a reflective piece – perhaps a poem, essay, artwork, or short film – exploring their personal understanding of how diverse forms of mothering have shaped their identity and values.
Gentle Screen Time
For Family Viewing:
"Brave" (PG) - Explores the complex mother-daughter relationship
"Coco" (PG) - Celebrates extended family and ancestral connections
"The Sound of Music" (G) - Features a woman who mothers children not her own
"My Neighbor Totoro" (G) - A gentle story of sisters and nurturing forest spirits
"Secret of the Kells" (PG) - Features various mentor relationships
For Parents:
"Lady Bird" (R) - An insightful exploration of the mother-teenage daughter relationship
"The Farewell" (PG) - Examines family, culture, and intergenerational relationships
"Nowhere in Africa" (R) - A powerful story of a mother's resilience and adaptation
Remember to adapt these activities to your family's comfort level and interests. The goal is to explore and appreciate Indian culture while creating meaningful family connections. Feel free to explore these activities in a way that suits your family’s rhythm—adapt them, mix them up, or create something entirely new! The beauty lies in making them your own. If you try something different, we’d love to hear your story and share in the journey!
Parent Reflection
As parents, we sometimes fall into the trap of believing we must be everything to our children. Yet throughout human history, children have thrived within extended networks of care – grandparents, aunts, teachers, neighbors, and community elders all contributing their unique gifts of nurturing. When we recognize and honor these relationships, we not only lighten our own burden but also enrich our children's lives with diverse perspectives and forms of love. This Mother's Day, take a moment to reflect on and express gratitude for the circle of care surrounding your family – those who mother alongside you, those who mothered you, and the ways you mother others beyond your children. In celebrating this web of nurturing relationships, we weave a stronger community of care for all.
