By Dillon Goring
Miriam Corlette Williams is a single mother of five children who agrees with the adage that says that it takes a community to raise a child.

“Motherhood is a joy, and the joys that I enjoy is when I get to see my children at every stage of their lives and for me that is the greatest joy, seeing them fulfilling their destiny and purpose,” Williams said. She believes that everyone should be interdependent while noting that a mother is a nurturer. Both parents are needed in a child’s life.

Addressing the issue of a single woman teaching a boy to be a man, Williams is of the view that no single woman can teach a boy to become a man, it is the father‘s responsibility to raise his son to became a man.

Society has conveyed the impression that men do not cry or express their emotions in a healthy and practical way, she said. Young men growing up now have been cultured to think that when they are faced with hardships, difficulties and unforeseen circumstances, that they should stand up and take it like a man, void of emotions and emotional expressions.

It is against this background that Williams responded that it is the mother’s role to teach her sons how to deal with their emotions in a healthy way.
Williams said that parents must exemplify models of integrity from childhood and both parents need to establish boundaries in order to ensure that there is a balance.

When it comes to career paths for the child or children, Williams believes that the child should be allowed to choose his or her own career path, but it is the parents’ responsibility to provide guidance

She opined that both parents should create a safe haven for their children. While sharing these words of wisdom, Williams herself stated that motherhood is indeed a joy. When asked how it feels, she explained: “There is no accolade in my lifetime that supersedes being a mother.”