Tradition, change and Armenian motherhood
Being an Armenian mother, daughter and grandmother in America means living at a crossroads. We’re clinging to old traditions and deep faith, but at the same time, trying to find our place in a new world. I didn’t realize how much this place defined me until I started writing about it—and watched the thoughts pour out.
Sometimes, it feels like we’re constantly wrestling with it all—how we were raised, how we raised our children, and now, how they’re raising theirs. As a second-generation Armenian-American, I’ll be the first to admit: it’s a lot easier to have strong opinions about tradition when you’re not the one raising kids in today’s world. Watching our grandchildren grow up so differently than we did can be tough. Let’s face it: our mothers probably felt the exact same way about us.
Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more people from my generation start to speak up about the stories our grandparents told us—especially those about surviving the Armenian Genocide. We’re the last generation that heard those stories straight from the source. As kids, we didn’t realize how rare and precious that was. Now, we’re doing everything we can to hold on to those stories.
In a lot of ways, we’ve unintentionally turned into our mothers—teaching our children and grandchildren the Armenian language, cooking the old recipes, celebrating baptisms and weddings the traditional way, and making sure no one ever forgets April 24th.
Today’s Armenian-American mothers are juggling so much. They’re trying to pass down those important values while giving their kids the freedom to be themselves in a rapidly changing world. But it’s a real balancing act: how do you instill your values and priorities when the world you grew up in doesn’t exist?
But it’s a real balancing act: how do you instill your values and priorities when the world you grew up in doesn’t exist?
That’s why it’s been so refreshing to see modern Armenian moms represented in pop culture. In the novel Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni, you meet a mom who feels so familiar—fierce, loving, a little overbearing and deeply tied to her Armenian identity. Ani, the main character, loves her mom but struggles under the weight of expectations. She wants to be a good daughter; she wants to stay connected to her roots—but she also wants to live her truth. It’s a tug-of-war a lot of us know too well.
And then, there’s Sona Movsesian—Conan O’Brien’s longtime assistant and now, a podcaster and author. She’s proudly Armenian but not in an overbearing way. She’ll crack Armenian jokes, talk about her family and weave little bits of her culture into everyday conversations. She’s funny and real, and it’s good to see someone like her representing a new kind of Armenian-American story.
Ultimately, being an Armenian mother, daughter and grandmother in America isn’t about choosing between the old world and the new—it’s about finding ways to live in both. We’re learning as we go, just like the women who came before us. Some days, we lean more into tradition; other days, we lean into change. And maybe, that’s the most Armenian thing of all: adapting, surviving and always finding ways to keep our stories—and each other—alive.
Happy Mother’s Day to all who mother, nurture and guide.
Victoria Atamian Waterman
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