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The TV Moms Who Helped Teach Me How to Mother
Published 4/19/26
Everything important I have ever learned came from TV. Well, that may not be totally true,
but I have learned a lot watching my favorite TGIF shows and Saturday morning cartoons.
I spent a lot of time with TV because I was a very lazy child and cable was my bestie.
When I wasn’t being raised by my own mother,
I was learning from TV’s best motherly figures
and some of those lessons have stayed with me into adulthood. Now that I am raising my own child,
I have pulled from those TV mothers to guide me through the ups and downs of learning the motherhood job in real time.
Here’s the TV moms, in no particular order, who helped shape the way I show up as a mother:
Clair Huxtable from The Cosby Show
Look, she’s an icon for a reason. And yes, this show is now mired in muck, but Clair was a good mom and she deserves the praise. Clair Huxtable was the first mom I remember on TV with a career that made me think, “Wait, she can really do that and have kids?” She made me desperately want to be a well dressed lawyer.
As I have grown, I started to realize what I truly respected about the character of Clair Huxtable is how she is able to use her intelligence to help guide her kids. She’s not a “because I said so” mom, she’s a “let’s get to the bottom of this problem and reason our way to a solution” mom. Motherhood and a growing mind, that's exactly the kind of mom I want to be.
Linda Belcher from Bob’s Burgers
One of the hardest things about being the “mom” was figuring out how to hold on to my sense of humor while:
- Hanging out with a toddler who doesn’t get any of my funny jokes.
OR
- Hanging out with a pre-teen who would rather get a filling than admit I am funny.
No one tells you how to figure out who you are again while raising kids and adjusting to their growth at the same time. Linda Belcher is a mom who is always herself and laughs at her own jokes whether her kids like it or not.
I started to realize if I wasn’t having to waste the energy adjusting who I authentically was in front of my kid, I would have a lot more energy to be fun! And just like Linda I like to make up songs, dance for only myself, and have a strange infatuation with alley critters.
Lois from Malcolm in the Middle
When I was watching Malcolm in the Middle as a kid I remember thinking Lois was the meanest mother on the planet and I could not understand why her very fun husband wanted to be married to her. As a grown up I see things very differently. I see a complex, tired mom trying to balance keeping her family alive, her control issues contained, and her never-ending to do list.
She wasn’t always the perfect mom, and I appreciate understanding that we will all hit lows as a parent, but at the end of the day, we’re all trying to do what we think is best for our children.
Motherhood is complicated and Lois showed us all that life is unfair, but you still have to be the mom through that all.
Queen Miranda from Sofia the First
An unconventional choice, but here for a reason. It’s not easy being a mother in a blended family, and it's somehow even harder to find a stepmom who isn't portrayed as evil.
When I was a new stepmom watching Disney Jr, I really clung to Queen Miranda and the ease in which she loved all her kids. She blended that family with patience and kindness. She’s not the most complex character ever written, and that’s why I like her.
So next time you need a TV time-out, take it guilt-free. The best motherhood lessons might just be one remote click away.
Other Blogs You May Like:
The Invisible Work of Motherhood
You Never Know When It’s the Last Time
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