A Woman's Work – Brooke Basically Blogging

 

I remember a song or maybe it was part of a script from a movie. But the phrase “ think about your mama” always stuck with me. I think Rob would say that to Harrison. He didn’t need to discipline him. He just needed to tell him “ think about your mama”

Are you wondering what this term really means? It means exactly what it says. Before you do something that will hurt the family. Think about your mama. For whatever reasons boys don’t want to upset their mama. They never want to be the source of her tears. I am blogging what I know growing up black and being raised in a black family. If this doesn’t apply to you, then you learned something new today.

Yesterday, I saw a disturbing video of three young black males.  One of them punched an adult man with special needs.  The others laughed.  The first thing that came to mind is not appropriate language.  Secondly, I thought  think about your mama!  Evidently his mama didn’t get the memo on raising kids.  Maybe she did but her child went astray.  Either way that is a disgrace to black males everywhere.   Someone will watch that video and Harrison will be guilty by association because he falls in the “young black male group”.

As Harrison begins a new adventure. I find myself telling him the same thing. Think about  your mama! Before he listens to his peers or does something damaging on social media. You need to think about your mama. What is it about the special relationship between a son and his mother?

Sons watch their mothers make a dollar out of a fifteen cents, a dime and a nickel.~Tupac. I never knew what they meant until I became a single mother. Single moms can make a dollar out of nothing and make it stretch like elastic. Our sons our watching.

Sons want to see their mothers happy. They also want to protect them from any pain that they may experience. But the most important thing is that sons don’t want to disappoint their mothers. Hence the phrase “think about your mama”.

Think about athletes especially African-Americans athletes. The first thing they want to do is buy their mom a house or give her something that she always wanted. As much as moms, especially single moms try to hide things from their kids. Their kids know more than we think that they do. They see our tears and hear us crying at night. They sense the fear and uncertainty in our eyes. Yet they never mention it.

As Harrison is getting older, he needs to know that his actions are a reflection of me. I know that all kids make mistakes. I pray every day that Harrison makes the right choices and thinks about his mama. He knows that I love and support him. But I have told him many times that I don’t have bail money for him. So stay out of trouble.