What Surprises Me Most About Motherhood: mater mea’s Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo Tells It Like It Is

Today on MyBrownBaby, we celebrate mater mea mom Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo, founder of African Health Now, a non-profit organization she founded to provide healthcare accessibility and information to Africans, and mom to 14-month-old  Omolara. Photographed by J. Quazi King for mater mea, Nana shares her thoughts on the thing that surprised her most about being a mom and some of her biggest fears about the job at hand.

What surprises you most about motherhood?

The whole thing. How tired you are, how in love you are, how scared you are — the whole thing. What kind of kid am I raising? What kind of kid is she going to be? And we’re only 14 months in the process! I’m scared shitless all the time. Am I a good mom?

You know that your kid is your kid; your kid is not you. Your job as a parent is to help guide and mold this kid to be the person they’re going to be and be the best person that is. But that is still scary. Because the traditionalist in me is like, “Well, I don’t want my kid to flip burgers. I’m molding you to go to college, I’m molding you to be independent, to be a critical thinker.”

That is the scariest part of parenting: being a good parent and being a parent that your kids look up to, that your kids feel like they can talk to.

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This photo and quote was reprinted with permission from mater mea.