Some TV moms just have a way of making us feel better about our own parenting skills. On the surface, the following TV show moms are shining examples of how to show affection to a child. Underneath, there’s a lot to love about a mom that makes us look good.
The Middle
Patricia Heaton does an awesome job of portraying Frankie Heck, mother of three kids on “The Middle.” There’s something about her that almost all moms across the country can relate to. Going to a job she hates, being misunderstood by her family and dealing with challenging kids. Yup, you can smile with understanding as she comes home and flops on the couch with a beer. But dinnertime at the Heck’s? Now that’s another story.
How can a mother who claims to love her children throw down a few bags of take out burgers and fries almost every night and call it a meal? I mean, sure, you’ve been known to pass around the local Chinese takeout menu to get everyone’s orders. Chinese food has vegetables. Fast food joints don’t. Besides, you can’t cook Chinese. Or pizza. Or Indian food. So it’s actually a treat for the kids when you order out. You’re not like Frankie at all. Nope.
Madame Secretary
As Madam Secretary, Téa Leoni tries to show us how awesome she is as a professional working woman, wife and mother. Wow. What an inspiration. Plus, she apparently has a smoking hot love life with her husband, played by Tim Daly (off-screen as well, but that’s gossip for another day). I mean, what woman wouldn’t want to be as good a mother as Elizabeth McCord, Secretary to the President of the United States? How does she do it all?
Well, she doesn’t. Not really. Take a closer look and it’s hard to find a mother less tuned in to what’s going on with her kids. She had no idea that her daughter, “Noodle,” was into fashion, no clue that her youngest son Jason hadn’t made any friends at his new school, and absolutely no notion that her oldest was sleeping with a heroin addict. (And, he is the President’s son, no less!). Honestly, if you were those kids’ mother, you would make it your business to know what they were up to every minute of the day. As Madame Secretary, wouldn’t it be within your rights to have your kids’ every action monitored? You bet it would! You are SUCH a better mother than her! Wait a minute. It’s almost midnight! Where’s your daughter? Her curfew is 10:00!
Modern Family
Gloria has one child to rear, and she does it with style. Sofia Vergara plays the doting mother so well, and her son Manny, played by Rico Rodriguez, is all the better for it. He’s a well-mannered, sophisticated young man who reflects positively on his upbringing. Even though Gloria spent years raising Manny as a single mother after her divorce, their relationship is perfect.
A little too perfect, if you ask her new husband, Jay, portrayed by Ed O’Neill. Jay sees what you see. A little fancy pants boy who is doesn’t want to let go of his mother’s apron strings. On the other end of those strings is an overprotective mother who has trouble letting her baby grow up. You’re not like that, though. You can see the error in preventing anything bad from happening to your kids. You know that Manny will always need approval from his mother, and that his future romantic relationships may suffer because of it. That’s why you always tell your son he can date whomever he chooses. As long as she’s a good girl. With no piercings. And she should be the same religious faith, obviously. That’s just a given.
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey has given us six glorious years of entertainment, so they are hereby relieved of any scathing remarks about Lady Edith’s reluctance to acknowledge her own child to save her own reputation, or Lady Mary’s curious lack of motherly bragging about her amazingly adorable and handsome son George. Suffice it to say, it’s hard to understand the mother-child relationship of the olden days. The only one that makes sense on the show is the one between The Dowager Countess and Lord Grantham. The way he still comes to his wise old mother for advice; the way she still tells him what to do and how to behave. Now that’s the way it should be!
