Therapist Shares 5 Traits That Make Someone An Amazing Mother

Motherhood is an extreme journey of self-discovery and expansion, where you’re whooshed to the peaks of ecstasy, only to be dropped in a pit of helpless gloom.

If life is about personal growth, then motherhood is an ideal vehicle. I am a mother of five and this is what I’ve discovered.

Five traits that make someone an amazing mother, according to a therapist

1. She's aware of her personal pitfalls

She may feel like a failure. She constantly compares herself, her marriage, and her kids to others. But instead of feeling inspired by what others do to make their family work, she doesn’t feel good enough. But here's the paradox: This makes her try harder.

Because she cares, she's aware of her weaknesses and pitfalls (bad temper, excessive media use) and she tiptoes around them gracefully, secure in the knowledge that, above all, she loves her kids. She's on a perpetual quest to discover what changes she needs to implement to make her kids’ lives better. For example, Her media awareness may open the gates to creativity, sparking ideas on nutrition, new family activities, or camps and schools to expand her kids' life experience.

Upset mother is amazing even though baby won't eat Kapinon.Stuio via Shutterstock

2. She leads by example in growth

The better she is as a person, the better she is as a mom. She stocks up on self-help books, takes healing, spiritual, and self-discovery workshops, and attends lots of classes. She constantly invests in her personal growth, and the higher she flies, the mightier wings her children sprout.

Bettering herself causes her household dynamic to evolve into a peaceful, harmonious flow. This peace and calm instills a deep sense of safety in her children, and safety becomes their norm. Will family life always be peaceful and calm? Heck no, but when life gets chaotic, the habitual 'emotional norm’ she's set eventually prevails.

3. She indulges her needs and is selfishly selfless

She does lunches with friends, pursues her intellectual and creative pursuites, and lets her stress melt into aromatherapy and acupuncture. After all, she is her own person, and her needs matter. She views herself as an equal member of the circle of people she cares about.

Her inner glow of worthiness creates a light of amazement around her, touching the hearts of her children. As they grow and mature, they emulate their mom by tending to their desires and worthiness, confident that, throughout life, their needs will be met.

4. She is honest and owns her shortcomings

When she yells at her kids, she apologizes. When she forgets about their school play, she is genuinely sorry and says it, owning her faults. She is brave enough to have authentic conversations with her kids. "

"How can I be a better mom to you?" she asks, open to receiving their feedback without judgment. She is not perfect — a messed-up, flawed human like the rest of us — but she is humbly honest about it and willing to improve for her kids. And just as she accepts herself in her complex entirety, she fully accepts her children, so they bring out the best in one another. Acceptance opens doors to seeing the light of what’s good in us beneath our flaws.

An amazing mother with her child Simona Pilolla 2 via Shutterstock

5. She demonstrates how to handle stress and chaos when life gets turbulent

She teaches her kids healthy strategies to deal with breakdowns by using herself as an example. She instills powerful mechanisms for coping with life in them — a messy yet glorious adventure. She applies all those self-help tools she spent time and money on to good and bad experiences.