Early in the morning, while walking to work, I always come across a flock of young kids wearing uniforms on their way to school. It’s always nice to hear them laugh out loud, talk about homework, hold hands as they cross the street. Having had the pleasure of enjoying  this sight most mornings, I have taken time to analyze it. According to my basic analysis, there are two types of kids. There are the older ones, who walk to school with their friends and their younger siblings. And there are the ones who are walked to school by a parent or a relative. In most cases, at least judging from what I have seen so far, the parent walking them to school is usually the mother. I once came across a mother who, as she was walking her child to school, was helping her child revise his lesson by making him repeat his amharic alphabet during the walk.

So here I am , every morning, walking to work and pondering upon the idea of motherhood. No need to mention that parenthood is a very big responsibility, although I just did. But, it seems to me that most of the child-raising responsibilities rest on mothers. Of course, there is the biological aspect where women bear the child in their bodies and breastfeed the child once they are born. But besides that, the taking care of, the clothing, cleaning and other necessities lie on mothers. You don’t have to agree with me, but you can just make it a point to notice around you. Seeing a father taking his child on a walk, or changing diapers is a rare sight to see. However I will admit that more and more fathers are sharing this burden with the mothers. This is by no means an accusation against fathers, it’s merely a statement of facts as I see them. And there are reasons why this is so, while the validity or logic behind these reasons is debatable.

In the case where both parents work, and mothers can’t spend time with their child, a nanny takes that place. The nanny, mother and child dynamics is puzzling at times. I’ve always been curious about the roles that nannies play in a child’s life. In a lot of situations, they take over the role of the mother and I have heard some mothers say that it has affected their bond with their children. The one thing I find very interesting is that in family outings, the nanny comes along. I have always had a hard time understanding that because the logic behind a family outing is to bond with children and get time to learn more about each other.

While on the topic of motherhood, the issue of single mothers is seldom raised. There are many single mothers, who have to raise their children on their own. I find it fascinating that, in most instances, the child’s last name is the mother’s father’s name. And interestingly, I can’t believe the extent to which families go to hide the identity of a child born out of wedlock. The miracle of bearing a child is outweighed by the shame of the child coming out of wedlock. I never understood that. I think the most fascinating aspect of all this is that each and every family has such a story. It’s kind of like that thing that everybody knows, yet nobody is supposed to know. So everybody acts like they have no clue. And a few years down the road, the truth comes out and families have to deal with the difficult reality.

I don’t think that there is a correct definition or defined role that mothers should play. Regardles, seeing how things are in Ethiopia I think we should take a minute to recognize and support mothers, who play such an important role in raising the next generation.