Motherhood in the 21st Century

Last Thursday I received an invitation from the AJC Gwinnett Opinions page, sent to those of us on the Voice of Gwinnett panelist list to comment on Motherhood in 2007, posed as follows:

Question:
What are the qualities, character and skills needed to be a good mother in 2007? Are they timeless, the same as in generations past? Or have they adapted and evolved as society has changed?
My response:

I know I'm not unique, but it hardly seems possible to me that only yesterday I was a very young mother and today I am a great grandmother. I have much to reflect upon. Motherhood? Though the care required and the skills needed to raise a child from infancy upward remain basically the same, we know there are far greater challenges in 2007 than there were in 1952.

Safety and health, nourishment, love, play, instruction and discipline are as much in the mix as they ever were. But as the world has changed, become so much more complicated and now offers the very young choices not even imagined in the past, a mother must remain far more discerning regarding the physical, cultural, moral and intellectual development of her children. Whether threats come from the street or from information filtering into the home from television and the internet, a mother's task is to choose wisely what is simply a matter of cultural change or is insidious and harmful. Nothing, however, can take the place of love, bedtime stories and being the anchor of the home.

I sent along the photo of myself and Miss Elsa, taken in November, which you can see right here.

It seems my comments were appreciated and will be published in Sunday's paper.