mothering

American  

[muhth-er-ing] / ˈmʌð ər ɪŋ /

noun

1. the nurturing of a child by a mother or in the way that a mother does.

   I'm so relieved to be finally able to do the mothering of my children in my own home.

2. the act of caring for or protecting like a mother, sometimes in an excessive way.

   Even though her cold wasn't better yet, she was getting tired of his mothering.

3. (in rural England) the custom of visiting one's parents on Laetare Sunday with a present.

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Etymology

Origin of mothering

First recorded in 1640–50; mother ¹ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

In Emily Raboteau’s book of essays, ‘Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against “the Apocalypse,”’ her care for her neighborhood and her maternal care for her children are connected as she faces an uncertain climate future.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2024

“Over the course of the pandemic many people came to understand that American life is not working for families,” she writes in “Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change.”

From Washington Post • Jun. 10, 2022

Take director Eva Husson’s Mothering Sunday—which was filmed entirely during the pandemic—for example.

From Slate • Jul. 16, 2021

For those working at organizations like Mothering Justice who are in the trenches with voters, this election-day reckoning may be less of a shock to the system.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2020

Mothering is a great business on these lines.”—Dr.

From God's Green Country A Novel of Canadian Rural Life by Chapman, Ethel M.