Mothers can do all things. And they are best at multi-tasking.

So says To’alua Levi from Vaitele-tai.

The mother of two spoke with the Village Voice yesterday.

“The role of women in the family is very important,” she said.

“Because we all know that we’re the ones that are taking care of the family.

“The cleaning of the house, the laundry everyday to make sure everyone has clean clothes daily.” 

For her. this is her normal routine. It is also the same for other Samoan mothers. 

But roles can be reversed, she said.

“I can grow bananas; I help my husband everyday especially when he’s not feeling well.

“Cooking is one of the usual daily tasks.”

Her favourite time though is spent with her children. 

“I have only one daughter and I always talk to her about many things in life.

“I give her lots of advice whenever I can because I think this is why many daughters go wayward.”

She believes it is important for a mother to talk to her children about life.

She thinks they should always be advised about their proper duties in the home and outside of the home. 

“My first priority is her, wherever I go, I take her with me.

“I think this is one of the reasons why there’s so many problems happening to our children especially girls nowadays.

“Because mothers spend too much time at bingo.” 

Dhe urges mothers to consider the lives of their daughters and other children all the time because their actions matter.

 “If we teach them to play bingo these days, then they’ll take the same track.” 

Her advice to other mothers: “Sometimes we look at the chores and lots of things that are unimportant but forget the relationship with our children.

“As a mothers, we need to work both in and out of our family.”

She said that she also makes time to talk to her husband and advise him of how to deal with family and other issues that often arise in this life. 

“We are known as ‘faufautua i aiga’, and that’s exactly why we’re made to be in this world.”