The Women Who Inspired My Parenting: A Women’s Day Tribute

Parenting is a journey filled with love, challenges, and constant learning. There’s no handbook that tells us exactly how to raise children, but if we’re lucky, we find inspiration from those around us especially from the strong women who have paved the way before us.

As I reflect on my parenting style this Women’s Day, I realize it has been shaped by the incredible women in my life and beyond. From my mother’s quiet strength to historical figures who defied norms, their lessons guide me every day in raising my children with resilience, compassion, and confidence.

This is my tribute to the women who have inspired my parenting.

If there’s one person who has influenced my parenting the most, it’s my mother. She didn’t just teach me how to be a good parent, she showed me through her actions, every single day.

What She Taught Me:

• Unconditional Love: No matter how difficult times were, I always felt loved. She taught me that love isn’t about grand gestures but about being there, always.

• Patience and Understanding: Whether it was helping me with schoolwork or listening to my childhood worries, she made me feel heard and valued.

• Strength in Kindness: She never needed to be the loudest in the room to command respect. Her quiet wisdom and kindness shaped the way I interact with my own children today.

I often find myself mirroring her whether it’s in the way I comfort my child after a bad day or how I teach them life lessons through small, everyday moments.

My grandmother’s life was anything but easy. She grew up in a time when opportunities for women were limited, yet she carried an unbreakable spirit. She raised her family with determination, ensuring that her children and grandchildren had the opportunities she never did.

What She Taught Me:

• The Power of Sacrifice: Parenting often means putting our children’s needs before our own. She embodied this without hesitation.

• Hard Work and Perseverance: Watching her push through life’s struggles taught me that strength doesn’t always look like winning, it looks like never giving up.

• The Importance of Traditions: From family meals to cultural stories, she showed me that traditions ground us, and I now pass those on to my children.

Her resilience reminds me that as parents, we don’t have to be perfect—we just have to keep showing up for our children, no matter what.

Though I have never met her, Michelle Obama’s journey as a mother, advocate, and role model has deeply influenced the way I see parenting. Balancing motherhood, a career, and public life, she has shown that raising strong, kind children starts with being a strong, kind person yourself.

What She Taught Me:

• Leading by Example: Children learn more from what we do than what we say. Her dedication to service, education, and kindness sets a powerful precedent.

• Raising Independent, Grounded Children: Despite the pressures of public life, she and Barack Obama raised daughters who are confident and socially aware.

• The Importance of Self-Care: Parenting is demanding, but we must take care of ourselves too—mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Her journey reassures me that it’s okay to have personal ambitions while being a devoted parent. Our children benefit from seeing us pursue our passions.

Malala Yousafzai is known for her courage in advocating for girls’ education, but behind her is a mother whose quiet strength shaped her into the fearless young woman she became.

What She Taught Me:

• Encouraging Our Children’s Voices: It’s tempting to shield our kids from the world, but sometimes, they are meant to change it.

• Facing Fear with Strength: Raising children means navigating difficult moments, but standing by them with courage is the best support we can offer.

• The Power of Support: She may not be in the spotlight, but her role in Malala’s journey is undeniable—a reminder that mothers shape the future in more ways than one.

Her story reinforces my belief that parenting isn’t about molding children into what we want them to be—it’s about giving them the wings to become who they are meant to be.

Beyond famous figures and family members, I find inspiration in the everyday women around me—friends, colleagues, and even strangers.

• The single mother who works tirelessly to provide for her child.

• The teacher who nurtures her students like they are her own.

• The friend who juggles work and parenting with determination and grace.

These women remind me that parenting is not a solo journey—it is strengthened by the wisdom, kindness, and resilience of the community around us.

This Women’s Day, I celebrate the women who have shaped my parenting—the ones who have shown me that love, patience, and resilience are the greatest gifts we can give our children.

From my mother’s nurturing love to Michelle Obama’s wisdom and the quiet strength of Malala’s mother, each of these women has left an imprint on the way I raise my own children.

Parenting is not about perfection, it’s about love, learning, and growing together. And thanks to the incredible women who have inspired me, I continue to strive to be the best parent I can be.

So, to all the mothers, grandmothers, teachers, mentors, and everyday heroes—thank you. Your influence reaches far beyond what you can see.

Happy Women’s Day!