A Mother Thinks Double: For Herself And For Her Children

A study reveals that motherhood stimulates intelligence and sensory abilities.

When a woman is a mother, her worries are multiplied by two, her happiness is squared, and the sadness or insecurities of yore are split in half. A mother thinks double: for herself and her children.

This strange but complex mathematical-emotional formula, beyond what one might think, will be like this for life, no matter if our child is an adult. Wherever they are, we will always care about them, our children will always be our little piece of heart out of the body.

At first glance, this build-up of pressures, fears and worries can be quite stressful. However, we cannot forget that there is an optimal and ideal level of anxiety with which we always keep our eyes and minds on alert. We become almost like those birds that look at the world from above, with wings and eyes wide open to detect any danger, to glimpse every opportunity.

-Leonardo da Vinci-

This is the life and role of parents: they think twice, suffer twice as much and do everything for their family. However, from the first moment the woman discovers she is pregnant, an inexplicable change occurs. We are no longer one person, we are two. This is why a mother thinks double: for herself and for her children.

We no longer conceive of our individuality and identity in the same way. Therefore, even our brain, with all its chemical and hormonal changes, will also predispose us to intensify emotions, thoughts, worries, doubts.

However, the whole process needs to be taken as something normal and natural that needs to be handled properly. Thinking twice is good, it allows us to be more effective, skilled and protective. But be careful: thinking too much can be dangerous. Our anxiety level will shift from that optimal effectiveness curve to enter a stressful health process.

A mother thinks double: for herself and her children

Modern mothers are independent, working women who are up to date on parental issues. This means that their mind becomes a computer attentive to any stimulus, interested in any information and at the same time aware of that program that marks the routines, obligations and objectives to be achieved.

The mother is “biologically” prepared so that nothing escapes her

• To say that moms have superpowers is an understatement.
• A study reveals that motherhood stimulates intelligence and sensory abilities.

• All of this is achieved for a very specific purpose: to be more successful in raising children.
• Perinatal psychology experts, thanks to new neuroimaging techniques, have discovered that the areas associated with the cognitive-affective system are activated much more.
• Furthermore, it has been found that during the first months of pregnancy, the ovaries produce between 10 and 100 times more progesterone, which reduces the production of cortisol, the trigger of stress. This is for a very simple reason: uncontrolled high stress harms the fetus.

Also, something we should rule out is the classic idea that the woman who is a mother or who has just given birth experiences some mental slowness or clumsiness. It is definitely not true.

Katherine Ellison, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of “ A Mother’s Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter, ” says it’s just the opposite. Motherhood turns on an extraordinary switch in our brain : it allows us to be more alert, more intuitive and more receptive to any stimulus. A mother thinks double: for herself and her children.

A mother thinks twice as much, but she must also think about herself!

We must not lose sight of an essential fact: motherhood puts our level of attention to the maximum, however, this level of anxiety maintained over time can be exhausting.

-Albert Einstein-

Rest from time to time, and above all, prioritizing yourself is not a cardinal sin but a vital necessity. No one is a bad mother to take an afternoon off, to leave dad some homework to do. Nobody should criticize you if you decide to take a nap or if, even if there are housework to do, you choose to spend a relaxing afternoon with your child and other moms.

• It is simply a matter of having clear priorities, and those priorities are your family and it is you.
• Also avoid getting carried away by excessive worry, obsessive thoughts and, above all, the fear that your child will not leave the diaper when he should, not walk when he should or not speak quickly when he is three. Everything will come in due time, at the right time, when its development is favorable.
• On the other hand, you must also prevent others from passing on their worries, fears or anxieties to you. If the education of a child is already quite complex, avoid taking on burdens that are not yours and that do not belong to you.

To conclude

Feeling afraid, thinking a lot, having doubts and worries, is normal when you are a mother. However, never forget that you have what it takes to do it wonderfully well.