So if you know anything about me, PAK was raised in what is considered an inner city community; the not so good side of the tracks; basically I was raised in the hood. I seen the “mean streets” and knew the people that made them mean. My mom wanted us in at a certain time to ensure our safety; she emphasized the importance of staying near by and not to wander off…WHY?…’cause it was the hood! I mean truth be told hoods vary from city to city, but everywhere has a hood. People would steal, shots could be heard, break-ins certainly occurred, but it was the hood and unfortunately that’s what it’s like. Not to take it lightly by any means; honestly, I bless God we lived there because it did teach me alot. Looking back to that time of growing up in a “not so idea” community really made me look at my life today. As a mother of 3, I realized there’s another hood that every woman enters into once they become a mom and that my friend is motherHOOD. Now motherHOOD might not be as tough as THE hood, but to some moms there’s little difference. Well there’s not break-ins in the middle of the night but how many moms can attest to being startled by a toddler busting in their room at 3am screaming and crying because they had a bad dream. I mean yea usually for the most part, as a mom there’s no shots heard, but how many moms can attest to an attitude filled teenager stomping throughout the house and slamming doors because you took their cell phone away?… IT IS THE HOOD, motherHOOD!
Now listen hoods vary from city to city and Motherhood varies from mother to mother regardless when that child came home the appropriate welcome home banner should’ve read, “Welcome to my Hood” Signed Your Newborn. Close your eyes and imagine… imagine what many mothers go through on the daily… A mother’s work is never done; the responsibility of an eternal soul entrusted by God to a mom is about as sobering as anything could be. MotherHOOD varies from mother to mother. Some mothers are those superwoman moms, I know a few of those; full time professional career women, single mom, up early, in bed late, raising young children, cooking and cleaning, but finds joy in the truth that a mother’s work is never done! Some motherHOODs are those chilling mothers; the type that say, hey if it ain’t broke don’t fix it because I’ve seen broke and that’s not it. These are the moms that have true testimonies that know the children that’s been given to them by God, exactly that’s it, they know it’s by God. God has not always been at the center but when she found Him, He centered her and now she’s the mother that God made. Then there’s that motherHOOD which is the toughest of them all. These mothers look at their children and unfortunately have regrets; these mothers can’t distinguish between the child they have with the person that made that child. So they live frustrated and feel as if life itself unappreciated them by allowing them to conceive and receive a child. Unfortunately, these hoods affect the children the most. motherHOODs who’ve seen life and they wish above all things that their own children never see the life they lived. She lost a child rather in the womb or in the flesh, she didn’t plan for that child, she resents that child because after all she didn’t want that child, again not all hoods are the same. Then there’s some motherHOODs that seem almost like a suburb, where the mother takes pride and joy in her children, beckoning to their every need and call, nurturing, supporting, even spoiling though these mom call it “pampering” regardless these motherHOODs just want their children to feel if anything feel that life is and could actually be good.
MotherHOOD, what a place, yea not just a role but a location, a community that is what you make it. I would venture to say most women find themselves there at some point in life. Long as we all understand, it really is a blessing to be in this land. So rep your hood because it’s truly a blessing to be from this hood…simply called motherHOOD.