WAS MOM BIPOLAR?

From what I have learned from my Psychology subjects, bipolar is a mental disorder where an individual would have bouts of mood swings. One moment, an individual would have “highs” then after sometime, he would have his “lows.” It is for the bouts of mood swings that I associate bipolarity with my Mom.

    You see, when I was growing up, I would often wonder why my Mom always has two faces- one that is gentle and one that is punishing, one that is comforting and one that is reprimanding, one that is lenient and one that is strict, one that is so sweet and one that looks like a witch. Such “bipolar character” of Mom was often a puzzle to me. Is she mad or something? I never understood why there seemed to be two persons inside her.

As a kid, I would just want Mom to be sweet, gentle and kind. I wanted her to be yielding. I did not like her “witch and kill-joy part.”  Now that I have become a mother myself everything has become clear. Mom is not bipolar at all. The reason why she seemed to have had two opposing characters is that it is her nature as a mother. Every Mom is wired to be like that. It seems like it is part of every Mom’s genetic make- up.

Bea-U-tiful Mom

  Mom’s “bipolar nature” had actually taught me valuable lessons in life. Her nurturing nature taught me to be loving and kind. Her reprimands taught me to be cautious and responsible for my actions. Her strictness taught me to be just. When she was unyielding to my caprices as a child, she was actually teaching me that not everything in life would be easily had. Yet when she was lenient, she was also teaching me to enjoy life.

Whether Mom’s “bipolarity” was by purpose or not, I think it had served its purpose. It had shaped and moulded me to become the Mom that I am now. I have caught the gene and now I am bipolar too.