Mother- A child’s first teacher

“The mother is the first teacher of the child. The message she gives that child, that child gives to the world.”— Malcolm X

Mothers are life givers, they are the ones who are there to hold our hands when we take our first steps, they help us understand the world around us but most of all a mother plays the role of a child’s first teacher. The child looks at her and tries to impersonate her, they learn to distinguish between the good and bad.

A mother in her journey of bringing up the child makes many sacrifices on the way and it is through those instances a child learns to grow up to be sensible, caring and compassionate towards other human beings. This Teacher’s Day let us look at a few stories of sacrifice, courage and joy that mothers bring to our lives as some one who teaches us to go forward in life and fight all obstacles.

“My children are going to grow up having everything I did not have. Apart from the usual mischief they listen to their father and me. My eldest one is going to be in class VI this year and my other daughter is going to be in class III. I work in the nearby households to send my children to school. I have taught them to be hardworking and dedicated. When the teacher praises them it makes me very happy.”– Minati, Sanjit’s mother

“The other day Nisha asked me, “Mummy why don’t you ever get tired? You sleep so late. From tomorrow I am going to tie my own hair.” It was the sweetest thing, but whatever sleep I lose does not matter because I want the best for her. She goes to a good school run by Smile Foundation, she looks so good in her little dress and she is very good in her studies. I work for her to become successful and happy in the future. Her teacher says she is doing excellent in school, what can be better than this?” – Meena, Nisha’s mother

“My daughter Shobha was four years old when my husband died. It was a difficult phase. We had nothing with us, no money, no belongings. Even the food we were carrying with us ran out in a few days. I do labour work on daily wages – whatever work I can get, carrying bricks, cooking, cleaning dishes, even sweeping. But I do not feel bad about it because I do it for Shobha. She goes to school now. People say she has taken after me, there is nothing she cannot do.” – Padma, Shobha’s mother

“I taught Preeti to count from 1 to 12. We were laughing at how funny it was that I looked at the clock in my house and taught her the numbers. But now she goes to school. She studies in class III. I am so proud of her. Her teacher says she is quiet the dancer. I already know this because she keeps on performing for me all the time.”– Meena, Preeti’s mother