There”s an old idiom about raising children that still rings true – it takes a village.
Biological parents aren”t the only influential individuals in their child”s life. Throughout the course of their lives, many people build close relationships with neighbors, mentors and other family members who take on the role of a parent.
Corrin Bond
Argonaut
Yet, society still tends to associate the role of a parent with biology. In the case of mothers, most people would define someone”s mother as the woman who gave birth to them.
However, in terms of social relationships, that”s not always the case.
When I tell other people that I have two moms, their immediate assumption is that my parents are in a same-sex relationship. In reality, my biological parents divorced and both remarried when I was still a baby. I first met the woman who would become my stepmom when I was 2 years old, and I can”t remember a time when she wasn”t in my life.
I grew up with the great fortune of having two strong, wonderful women in my life who I know will always love and be there for me. My stepmom may not have given birth to me, but she”s still someone who has helped me navigate this mess of a world with her love, encouragement and advice.
How we define motherhood, and what it means to a parent, should be more fluid.
There are people who were raised by their grandmothers, godmothers or close relatives, like an aunt. Others were raised by adoptive mothers, single fathers or same-sex couples.
Some people have biological mothers in their lives but are also close with another person who fulfilled a maternal role. Some people may view their stepmoms as the woman their father remarried, but for me, that isn”t the case. There is no single way to define who is and isn”t a mother.
The assumption that someone”s mother is strictly the person they share half of their chromosomes with is outdated, and the idea that someone can”t have more than one mother is simply untrue.
Mothers in the conventional sense are tremendously important, but so are people who have played a maternal role in your life or the lives of others.
For students whose biological mothers may not be in their lives, remember that this Moms” Weekend can serve as an opportunity to express appreciation for the maternal figures or role models in your life. For those whose moms aren”t able to make it to Moscow for the weekend, it is still a good time to take a few minutes out of your day to give your mom a call and let her know how much she means to you.
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CorrBond