Top 7 TV Mothers

When we watch TV, one of the things we always pay attention is the mothers on TV. Sometimes these mothers are to some of us the ideal mother. We either want these mothers or we want to be these mothers. We kind of adopt these mothers as our own and envision what our life would be like if they were our mother. I've watched a fair amount of TV myself and there's been a few mothers that I would love to be when I become a mother.

No. 1: Claire Huxtable (The Cosby Show)

Alright now. Claire Huxtable for me is the kind of mother I want to be when I have my kids. She has a career, five children and a husband at home that gets into mischief. Claire is firm yet kind, with a great grasp on how to discipline children. She does it with such ease and with that I look forward to when she has to discipline the kids and especially when she has to put Cliff in his place. And the way she talks to the kids is just amazing. I have only seen her lose her cool once or twice with the kids,

No. 2: Harriet Winslow (Family Matters)

We all know Harriet Winslow from the classic show ‘Family Matters’ as the witty, sarcastic yet kind-hearted mother of Eddie, Laura and for the first four seasons Judy. She has a kind and loving heart but yet she knows when to put her foot down once it comes to disciplining the children, and knows when to step in when Carl goes overboard. She reminds me of my own mother, who is sarcastic but at the same time is loving and understanding. She also cares for her family and is disappointed every time she feels like she’s let them down whether it be big or small. She is also very frank and honest with her children but not to the point where she insults them. She also is not afraid to speak her mind, especially to her husband when he gets too stubborn and pig-headed.

No. 3: Penelope Alvarez (One Day at a Time)

Penelope Alvarez is the feisty Cuban mamacita from the Netflix original ‘One Day at a Time’. She is a single mom to Elena, a 15-year-old with a mind of her own and Alex, who is in middle school and thinks he is absolute perfection. Recently separated from her husband, Penelope lives in an apartment with the two kids and her traditional Cuban mother Lydia. She tries to find the balance between working as a nurse in a doctor’s office and spending time with her kids being a single mom. She tries her hardest to give the kids everything they need and try to give them the best things in life. And like most women she’s not afraid to speak her mind once it comes down to her kids, especially when the kids need to be put in their place when they overstep their bounds. And it’s not easy to handle that when you are a single mother. She is also honest with her kids when she needs to be and hides things when she absolutely has to. And she tries to do right by her kids, seeing as their father is gone and all of the pressure is on her but she is doing a great job of it!

No. 4: Kitty Forman (That 70's Show)

We all know our vice-loving mother, Kitty Forman. She is mom to Laurie and Eric in That 70’s Show as well as a mother figure to Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Jackie and Fez. She is the quintessential 70’s mother who is against drugs, and always tries to keep Eric like a kid by babying and coddling him. Despite her smothering nature, Kitty has a good heart and a very strong maternal instinct. She is quite attached to her children, especially Eric who she coddles to no end and so really has no sense of how to be a man and always seems to want him to be attached to her at all times, even when he turns 18. Though normally submissive and calm, Kitty can be frank and assertive when pushed to her limits. Like an old-fashioned wife Kitty takes charge of all the domestic stuff like cooking, cleaning, raising the children, grocery shopping, etc. But she is very happy in her role as wife and mother despite the fact that she wants everything done her way.

No. 5: Sophia Petrillo (The Golden Girls)

My favorite Golden Girl! Sophia Petrillo is a wise-cracking, witty and wise woman entering and accepting her old age with grace and dignity. She is mother to Dorothy, Phil and Gloria. She hails from Sicily and is an old world Italian. Her wise cracks and sarcastic comments are a result from a stroke that destroyed the filter part of her brain. As sad and tragic as that is, her lack of filter is what makes her a favorite on the show. It just tells us what she was thinking through all those years when she did have a filter, which I find hilarious. Although loving and wise, she does tend to pick on Dorothy a lot especially when it comes to her love life. Sophia means well but the way she shows it could use some work. She's that old lady mother that can make jokes but at the same time be loving and understanding.

No. 6: Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy)

Now this one goes a little way back. From the show I Love Lucy, Lucy Ricardo is a 1950's housewife whose husband Ricky (played by real life husband Desi Arnaz) was a singer in a New York nightclub. Although a loving wife and mother, Lucy dreamed of having a career outside of the home particularly in the theater which Ricky is having absolutely none of. She is a doting mother to Little Ricky, but is quite attached to him as shown when he was supposed to go to nursery school but instead had Fred take him to the park until Ricky left the house. She also tries to make things great for her son, for example trying to dress like Superman and walking onto her ledge to pretend to be Superman. Lucy was just a loving and doting mother and was a typical 1950's mother aside from the craziness and the dream to be in theater.

No. 7: Roseanne Conner (Roseanne)

Oh yes! Hailing from the beloved show Roseanne, Roseanne Conner is the over-bearing, witty and sarcastic mother of Becky, Darlene, DJ and Jerry (in the last two seasons). She and her family live outside of Chicago in Lanford, Illinois. She is the perfect example of a mother who picks on her kids out of love. Roseanne has a very rough exterior with a sassy attitude and a demeanor that would make most men (and boyfriends) run for the hills. But despite her gruff exterior, her children love her and come to her when they need something and she responds in her normal yet loving manner. At first glance people might think she's over-bearing and crazy (which she is) and the type of mom to embarrass you on your first date with your boyfriend but she does it out of love. And when she gets upset it's not because she wants to be mad, it's because she cares and when a mother cares they get extremely upset. For me, Roseanne Conner is the most real mom out there. She doesn't hide anything, she's very frank, out in the open and doesn't lie to her kids once it comes to dating, which is great considering she has two teenage daughters that grow up to get married. Now is Roseanne the kind of mother I would like? No. But is she the kind of mother most women are? Probably.