Hovering {Gentle} Mothers

There are mothers who are hovering {gentle} mothers ~

They don't let their children cry. 

They would never think of spanking them. 

They follow them around wherever they go when they are toddlers making sure they don't hurt themselves. 

They are usually soft, gentle, and kind mothers.  


They never want to see their children hurt or in pain.

I have a good friend who was a hovering {gentle} mother and her children turned out GREAT!

I was not a hovering mother ~ 

I made them sleep through the night when they were six weeks old. 

I let them cry themselves to sleep. 

I spanked them when they were openly defiant or hurt someone, which was rare. 

When they whined, they had to sit on the fireplace (no, it wasn't on) until they stopped. 

When we went to a park, I would sit on the bench and let them fall, scrap their elbows and knees, and eat dirt. 

When they were going to do something I didn't want them to do, I just said "No!" and they didn't do it. 

They knew from a very young age who was boss...And it wasn't them. 

I did some things quite differently than a hovering mom.  My children knew I loved them, but I wanted them to learn at an early age that life didn't revolve around them and there was pain in life.  I wanted them to not get offended easily and  be tough, because life is tough.  I guess I would call me a tough mom!

Now I am not saying one way of mothering is better than the other...They are just different.  Sweet and sensitive mothers mother different than I do, but that is okay.


I think the way I mothered my children was easier.  Hovering mothers spend a lot of energy raising their children, but that is their choice.  It isn't a sin to be a hovering mother, in fact, in may be the right way to mother, so please don't think I am judging you. I am not.  It is just something I have observed...

Train up a child in the way he should go,
      And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6