the work or skill of a mother in raising a child or children
mothering in American English
(ˈmʌðərɪŋ)
noun
1.
the nurturing of an infant or small child by its mother
2. (in rural England)
the custom of visiting one's parents on Laetare Sunday with a present
Word origin
[1640–50; mother1 + -ing1]This word is first recorded in the period 1640–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: differential, electric, elevator, selection, sludge-ing is a suffix of nouns formed from verbs, expressing the action of the verb or itsresult, product, material, etc. (the art of building; a new building; cotton wadding). It is also used to form nouns from words other than verbs (offing; shirting). Verbal nouns ending in -ing are often used attributively (the printing trade) and in forming compounds (drinking song). In some compounds (sewing machine), the first element might reasonably be regarded as the participial adjective, -ing, the compound thus meaning “a machine that sews,” but it is commonly taken as a verbalnoun, the compound being explained as “a machine for sewing”