What's a Mother For?

As I was reading the critically thinking section on page 43, I was really thinking what is a mother for? For myself when I think about my mom, I think of comfort, guidance and someone who will always be there for me. I know that isn’t the same for everyone, but I’m always so glad to go home for a weekend and my mom has the front door open waiting for me to pull in the driveway. That is comfort to me. Something else that is comfort to me is my baby blanket that I still have. Even though it is no longer a “blanket” and more like a ball of yarn, it used to ease me in times of need. With Harlow conducting an experiment with infant monkeys and two options of mothers, it was interesting to read the results. “The four monkeys who had a cloth mother clung to it and ignored the wire mother since feeding is connected with mothering. However, even the four babies that fed from the wire mother clung to the cloth mother, going to the wire mother only when hunger compelled them.” (Berger 43). As we know, there is no real attachment to nourishment but “love”. Harlow also discovered to be psychologically healthy, animals or humans need interactions with other living beings. This also makes me think about kids who aren’t raised with a mother, or kids who are put up for adoption. I was blessed to be raised in a household with my parents and siblings, but I am also very fortunate. I know a woman who committed suicide a few months after her first child was born. That baby will never have her mother and won’t have that motherly connection which is so important. I also then think about if the child doesn’t have a choice, they then develop an attachment with the main caregiver (father, grandparents, foster parents etc.). It’s interesting to look at how children develop and grow with attachments starting at birth.