Ie’shia Downton Shares the Life Lessons Her Mother Taught Her
We look like them. We laugh like them and in many cases, we love like them. Our mothers and motherly figures taught us how to be women and the lessons we learned from them are ones we have the pleasure of passing along to our children.
This week we spoke with five career women to see what lessons have stuck with them over the years from the women they call mommy. Here is our interview 4 of 5 featuring Ie’shia Downton.
Ie’shia Downton
Kansas City, MO
Social Media Coordinator at Kansas City PBS
What are some of the greatest lessons your mom taught you growing up?
My mom was an avid reader and she taught us to love reading. She would always “People can take money away from you. They can take things away from you but they can never take away your mind.” She was really big on knowledge and making sure we were knowledgeable about where our people came from.
What lessons have stuck with you over the years?
The importance of having a work ethic. My mom works hard as hell and she’s always taught up to be self-sufficient. She sometimes would work two to three jobs at a time to make sure we never had to guess where our next meal was going to come from.
My mom is also an immigrant and she fought really hard to get her citizenship before she got married. I’ve realized over the years that I don’t think my mom ever wants to have to depend on anyone for anything.
Now that you’re a mom yourself do you ever find yourself repeating the same things to your child that your mom said to you as a kid?
Yes. I talk a lot about our history like my mom did. My husband said if our children ever have to do a book report on Black History that he would send them to me. Since my mom instilled that into us as children I’m passionate about it naturally.
How has becoming a mom changed your perspective of your upbringing?
It made me realize as a kid that I knew my mom was not a friend. I love her. I’m going to treat her like a queen but she’s my mom. I didn’t feel comfortable sharing as many things.
My mom had to play disciplinarian and the nurturer because she was a single parent. When my husband and I got engaged and then started living together, it was easy for me to take on both the roles as disciplinarian and nurturer instead of leaning on my husband.
What is one character trait you hope your daughter takes from your mom?
I want my daughter to take my mom’s determination.
What do you want your children to have from their childhood?
I want to have an open dialogue with all of my kids, especially my daughter.