29 May 2017

A mother-child friendship has been hailed as a true medicine to social ills and building a strong sense of belonging to children.

These sentiments were shared by different mothers and the girl child during a high tea event in Kanye on May 28.

One of the attendees, Ms Keabitsa Ramantele urged fellow mothers to nurture a relationship with their children and also pray for them to seek divine intervention in time of need.

She said it was important to groom children under their wings so that they may not seek help from strangers.

“Your child remains your child even when he/ she is indisciplined.

There is no dustbin where we can throw disobedient children but we have to strive to discipline them and freshen up our relationship with them,” she said

The 21-year-old, Ms Tumelo Nthutang spoke of how she had learnt a lot from her strict mother.

She said she had learnt to be obedient at a young age thus winning trust of her mother.

Though she is now independent and she is in her university years, Ms Nthutang added that, being a friend to her mother had helped her achieve a lot of things including making informed decisions professionally and her personal life.

“No one can replace a mother, the mother’s love is so warm and comforting, that is why I am comfortable to share the deepest secrets with my mother,” she added.

A pastor at Seventh Day Adventist Church, Ms Tefo Kabo also emphasised on the spirit of forgiveness.

She urged mothers to always ask for forgiveness from their children to restore the mutual peace in the family.

Ms Kabo was of the view that children who were bitter, tend to abuse others when they grow up.

She advised mothers to cultivate friendship and to fully assume their role.

The event brought together grandmothers, mothers and daughters to share skills, ideas, appreciate challenges and celebrate motherhood in the 21st century.

According to the organiser, Ms Nayang Nkwakweng of Monei Events Projects, the event started last year and was in its second edition.

“We were simply influenced by the passion to reward the mothers for the good job they were doing and we decided to organise a high tea blended with a series of talk shows. The forum created a platform to discuss issues of parenthood and appreciate the good things and challenges that comes with being a mother,” she said.

Moving forward, she said they intended to look for sponsors to make the event even bigger.

The event was held under the theme, ‘Parenting in the 21st century’. ENDS