The mother-daughter relationship is a sacred one. The bond women share with one another can be soul-sustaining and life-affirming. What better way to foster that type of relationship than growing a woman in your womb, birthing her, watching her grow into a girl, and supporting her in her transition to womanhood? These types of connections work best when the mother is whole and relatively healed.
Sadly, plenty of women are not mothering from this place and the relationships with their daughters can be tense, toxic, and tumultuous. One woman with the aforementioned experience wants to break the cycle. So she went on the internet.
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Cree Robinson said she knows a lot of women who don't speak to their mothers.
Robinson, an entrepreneur and former therapist, posed a very poignant question to her Instagram followers. She asked, âTo the girls who are really close with their moms, whatâs one thing that your mom did when you were growing up or still does that makes you want to have a close relationship with her now?â
Robinson shared that she asked this question because as someone who is not close to her own mother, she was genuinely curious. âI know a lot of women, myself included, who either donât talk to their moms at all or who do not have good relationships with them or have had to cut them off for whatever reason.â
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The comment section could potentially provide a lot of value.
Robinson is the mother to boy-girl twins. Although they are still young â just 1 year old â she thinks about this topic of closeness between mothers and daughters often. The responses to her inquiry did not disappoint. They were affirming and familiar for those of us who do share close bonds with our mothers.
For the mothers, whether they were close to their mom or not, they offered insight into ways we could be better. And for the women who donât have children and arenât close to their mothers, they provided ways they could show up for the other girls and women in their lives. See what some of these women had to say.
'She let me be,' one user shared.
âShe listened, she let me be me,â one person wrote. âShe was so full of love. She saw me. She also gave me verbal validation, she pushed me to be better and I just knew she had (and still has) my back. Unconditional love at its finest.â
Another commenter focused on the support her mother provides. âShe believes in me. She encourages me. She supports my creativity even and especially when I donât believe in myself," the person wrote.
Another person spoke about their momâs willingness to take accountability for her actions: âShe apologised often, defended me, spoke well of my dad even after all [she] went through in her marriage to him, she forgives quickly, ALWAYS welcoming to my friends. As an adult she respects my opinion, supports me and tells me how proud of me she is, loves my husband, and she honours my boundaries."
Others spoke of the importance of empathy.
Another person shared that her mother was a safe space. âCould talk to her about EVERYTHING. No subject was taboo or inappropriate with her. She openly explained things. And of course, has EMPATHY," she wrote.
Another woman said sheâs close to her mom because of the way she spoke about her. âShe spoke very highly of me whenever we were around other people. I never felt like a burden or someone who she didnât enjoy. Having a good relationship with your mom is really one of the biggest blessings in the world," she commented.
