Remember when you were young and without children, and you imagined what it would be like to have a daughter?
You probably envisioned shopping trips, girly movie nights, spa dates, gossiping about attractive male celebrities and sharing secrets over mugs of hot chocolate.
What your brain would have been blissfully unprepared for is the reality of raising a young woman: the sulks, the attitude, the defiance, the backtalking and the refusal to respect your rules, to say the least.
That’s not to say that you don’t love your daughter – but there’s no denying that raising her was a challenge!
Usually, most moms and daughters rekindle their relationship when the daughter is old and mature enough to move out and stand on her own two feet.
And now that the COVID pandemic has hit us, mom and daughter relationships are supposedly stronger than ever.
The Coronavirus might have been one of the worst things to happen in our lifetime so far, but it has done some good.
Many families, especially those with elderly parents, decided to join together at the beginning of the pandemic to form a bubble, enabling them to still see each other in person during quarantine.
Independent cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken, based in Connecticut, reviewed families that had been stuck together for months during the pandemic and found that mom-daughter relationships in particular had been revitalized.
In fact, in Grant’s survey, some 60 percent of moms said that they now feel more connected to their daughters.
This doesn’t only refer to moms who isolated in the same house with their daughters, either.
The survey also included interviews with moms who had simply improved their communication with their daughters as a result of the pandemic.
So, what is it about COVID-19 that enabled mom-and-daughter relationships to thrive?
We all know that the dynamic between moms and daughters is especially complicated, and has its fair shares of ups and downs.
But being cooped up together during lockdown gives a unique opportunity for bonding that many moms and daughters never had before.
For moms of younger daughters, quarantine was thought to play a part in bringing teens off their phones and sending students back home from college, helping to improve connections.
Let’s not forget that many of us now work from home, too, giving us more time with our daughters.
But is it always the case that COVID can improve a mom-daughter relationship?
Sadly, no. For people that need their space and independence, the COVID pandemic has been particularly testing. It’s natural for petty arguments to arise when families have to spend so much time in one another’s company.
The pandemic itself raises arguments – one person thinks it’s fine for the grandparents to see the kids, while someone else doesn’t. One person agrees with the travel restrictions; someone else wants things to get back to “normal”.
Considering moms and daughters tend to be the loudest in the house, it’s no surprise if that’s where most of the drama comes from!
But because we’re now closer than ever to our daughters, most of these disputes can be easily forgiven and forgotten.
Grant McCracken believes that the strengthened relationships between mothers and daughters will outlast COVID-19, which is certainly a nice thought to have.
Who knows – perhaps going forward, we’ll all actively prioritize family like we never have before.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
