Idioms and Expressions about Motherhood

1.A mother hen – a woman who is protective and caring for those she loves;

2.To take someone under your wing – to take a special interest in caring for and helping someone;

3.Still tied to his/her mother’s apron strings – a person who has not learned to be independent;

4.Maternal instinct – a natural desire to have children and to nurture people.

Definitions of Motherhood

The traditional definition of the word “mother” has grown to include many kinds of mothers.

1. Birth mother – a person’s biological mother;

2. Stepmother – a woman who is not the birth mother of a child but is married to the child’s father;

3. Working mother – a mother who works for pay outside the home;

4. Mom/momma/ma/mommy – an affectionate name for your mother, usually used by young children;

5. Stay-at-home mother/housewife – a woman whose work is taking care of the home and children;

6. Foster mother – a woman who cares for a child/children when the parents are unable to;

7. Single mother (parent) – a woman who is raising her child or children without a husband;

8. Super mom – a woman who is the perfect wife, mother and career woman;

9. Adoptive mother – a woman who is given the legal right to raise a child that is not hers by birth;

10. Surrogate mother - a woman who is paid to carry and give birth to a child for an infertile couple;

11. Earth mother - a woman who is warm and loving to her family and friends; a woman who is in tune with nature;

12. Godmother – when a child is born, the parents can ask a woman to be a sponsor or guardian of the child.

Fill in the Blanks

Choose the correct idiom or definition. Watch out for tenses and pronouns.

1.Sam is over 35 years old but he still depends on his mother. He expects her to cook his dinner, wash his clothes and clean his house. She even picks his girlfriends. I think he’s still _____________ .

2.My wife’s _____________ is getting stronger everyday.

3.My aunt cared about me very much. She _____________ and taught me everything that she knew about life. I learned a lot from her.

4.As Roberta sent her kids off to school, she was acting like a ______________ because she was fixing their jackets and fussing over them.

5.I have been Sonia’s mother for 20 years. I didn’t give birth to her, I adopted her. I am her _____________ .

6.Julie is my stepdaughter. I didn’t give birth to her but I married her father after his first wife died. I’m Julie’s ______________ .

7.Mary Jane doesn’t have a paid job. She works in her home. She takes care of her children and cooks and cleans everyday. She’s a _______________ .

8.Melina is a _______________ . She drops her children at daycare every morning at 8:15 a.m. and then works in an office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

9.My one-year-old son just said his first word today. I wanted him to say, “Poppa” but instead he said, “___________’’.

10.June and her husband like to help children from families who don’t have a stable home, sometimes taking them to live with them. June is a ___________ .

11.Jane has two children that she’s raising alone. She’s a _____________ .

12.Tom and Nancy couldn’t have children so they paid Dolores to carry and give birth to their child. Dolores is a ______________ .

13.Linda is warm and loving to her family and she loves anything to do with nature. She goes camping almost every summer and likes to walk on grass barefoot. Some people call her an _____________ .

14.I gave birth to my son Frank so I am Frank’s _______________ .

15.Shella is a lawyer who works all day in the office. When she comes home, she prepares dinner for her family, cleans the house and washes the clothes. Then, she puts her four children to bed and reads to them. She really is a ____________ .

16.When Ann and George’s daughter was born they asked their best friend Barb to be her _______________ .

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1705