THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE

A mother’s love is powerful in influence. “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” (Note 1) A mother that nurtures her child will shape her/him. Consequently, the character and disciplines that have been shaped in a person will determine how they lead and function.

LOVE THAT INFLUENCES

According to  Sir Winston Churchill, his  mother’s hand did not ‘rock his cradle’ very much.  Instead, the hand of his nanny shaped him. She rocked his cradle. Her love for him was powerful and influential.  Winston Churchill states that she is the one that influenced him to have courage, to not give up, and to believe he had worth as a young person. He then became the leader the world needed at their darkest hour in WW 2.

I am thinking of the moms who have adult children. Our teachings and disciplines have shaped our children. A mother’s love is powerful in influence.Do you think your influence has finished? It actually has just begun in a new powerful season of your life.

As adult children, we yearn for the blessing from our parents. Moms are nurturers. It is easier to nurture the children when they are young. Even as our children grow older we need to stay involved and engaged. Of course our nurturing and involvement will look different.

I FEEL I HAVE LOST INFLUENCE

There are  three stages in motherhood: Caregiver, Trainer, Educator, and Stateswoman. We may feel we have lost influence once our children become independent, but we never have lost it. We hold it in the palm of our hand. It just looks different. Often we may not like the choices our children have made . Furthermore, sometimes our children  go off course, but we can still love them unconditionally.

Here is where the Stateswoman mother enters in. A Stateswoman mother needs to be intentional about affirmation. This is her role more than ever now. As mothers we should not just wait until we see something we agree with in our adult children’s lives before we affirm. A mother can always find something positive in their child’s life. This is the season to affirm, and drop the advice.

HOW DOES A MOTHER  BECOME INTENTIONAL ABOUT AFFIRMATION?

First of all, learn about their career. Read books on the topic. Google their interests and hobbies. This will help you show interest when listening to their conversations about their life.  Instead of interrogating, you will be able to ask intelligent questions about their careers and interests. Consequently, articulate those admirable traits and write them out on  notepaper and mail it to them.  That’s right.  We all  still like to get mail; especially when it is an affirmation.

Use these positive affirmations in texts and phone calls. Sprinkle them liberally; not in a flattery way but rather in a calm, professional way.    Don’t try and give advice or change their mind. Encourage your children in their wise decisions. Listen and build them up. Tell them that you believe in them.  You will notice how they soak it up like a sponge. Your words go deep because you have nurtured them as young children. As a result their hearts have your imprint on them.

If a person can influence another person in business by affirmation,  how much more will a mother’s positive words be a blessing upon  and influence her adult children?                                                                                                                                                                        https://www.lifecoachhelps.com/6-ways-to-make-people-like-you-principle-6/

-Karen Moilliet    May 6, 2020

Note 1-  .”The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” – was first penned by William Ross Wallace in a poem entitled  The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1865); a poem that praises motherhood as the pre-eminent force for change. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Hand_That_Rocks_the_Cradle