My Favorite Moms on TV

Most mothers portrayed on TV are often bordering on extremes. They are either the perfect all-forgiving mom or the scheming exploitative mom. The most memorable and most-loved TV moms are the realistic ones, those who may be flawed but only have their children's best interests at heart. Most especially, their traits and characteristics are grounded on reality, someone whom you can see yourself in or perhaps one whose behavior resembles your own mother.

Here's four of my favorite TV moms, all of them having both unique and universal attributes when it comes to raising their family:

1. Lynette Scavo from Desperate Housewives

Of all the mothers in Wisteria Lane, Lynette is the most admirable one. First, she had to give up her promising advertising career to be a stay-at-home mom and care for three rambunctious boys and an infant daughter. And it's not easy if you have Lynette's competitive work-oriented personality. Then she supported her husband's dream by helping him manage a pizza place. She went through the whole ordeal of cancer and fought strains in her marriage, all the while keeping a strong exterior for her children, even though she is crumbling inside. In the recent season, she had to defend her son who was accused of murder, unknown to her if he is guilty or not. She is the epitome of standing by her family, no matter what it takes, not minding in the least bit what she has to sacrifice. As a mother, this is the trait I want to embody, a mother who will do anything and everything for the sake of her children.

2. Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls

I watched Gilmore Girls from start to finish because of the fascinating dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship of Lorelai and Rory, which is the show's main focus. Lorelai is the non-conventional mother that every daughter aspires to have. It made me want to have a daughter of my own someday and be the fun-loving endearing mother that she was. Lorelai is more of a friend than a mother to ideal daughter Rory, but she is also capable of stepping up as a responsible parent when the situation calls for it. The way she raised her daughter is a far cry from her own strict upbringing, which caused a strained relationship between her and her mother. Which is why Lorelai used a more lenient and supportive child-rearing technique, which led Rory to see her mother as her best friend whom she can confide everything to. I'll definitely want my own teenage daughter, or son in my case, to see me in that same admiring respectful light.

3. Marie Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond

Sitcoms spurned out erratic but lovable mothers. One of them is Marie Barone, the overbearing mother of Ray, who is a big part of the show's charm. She is definitely far from perfect, but I'm sure some mothers out there can relate with her passive-aggressive ways, though not as exaggerated and as open as she is. I followed this sitcom for years, looking forward to her crazy antics and her latest guilt-inducing remarks. As a mother, she is highly intrusive with her adult son's life, has high standards of Ray's wife Debra and regularly criticizes her, openly favors Ray over her other son Robert, and constantly finds fault with her husband. Yes she displays some off-putting traits, but she does them so comically that we have no choice but to forgive her. In the end, she's just a mother who struggles with letting go of her grown-up son and the need of having everything done her way, things that long-time mothers tend to do. Let's just all thank God she's not our mother-in-law.

4. Annie Camden from 7th Heaven

As a teen, I was a fan of the long-running family show 7th Heaven and I always thought the mother was the kindest, most sympathetic character on TV. Annie Camden, played by Catherine Hicks, got the perfect look of a sensible principled mother. She is a loving wife to a Protestant minister and a compassionate mother of seven children, who are a handful in the drama department. Religion is a big part of the show and Annie's parenting style is one of instilling the right morals and values at an early age. Over the course of the show, we've seen them matured, moved out, got married, had kids of their own, every one of them always looking up to their parents for guidance and support. Mrs. Camden didn't hesitate talking to her children about controversial topics such as pre-marital sex and alcohol addiction, without sounding too preachy or annoying. With the power of media nowadays, I can only hope to do the same with my child, when he is old enough to understand about life.

I'm positive there are more TV moms worthy to be in the list, but these are the mothers I've grown up watching. As a mother myself, I'm now only too aware of their different parenting styles, some I can see myself emulating, some which are only good for entertaining TV. So, who would you include in your list of favorite TV moms?