Like my mother was (cooking meals, reading books)/Like my mother did (cooked meals, read books)

[Marika33]

I caught this sentence, and I can't really understand why he used the past continuous, "... like my mother was (cooking meals, raising the kinds, reading books to them)". Were I him, I'd've said "... like my mother did (cooked meals, raised the kinds, read books to them)". Why? He isn't talking about a specific point in the past, he's talking about his childhood in general, what his mother did when he was a child.



(Source at 30:00)

 

[Piscean]

It's not the past continuous. It's the -ing form after 'be busy;

... the moment the mother's busy working, not home, (busy) cooking meals, and (busy) raising the kids and (busy) reading books to them like my mother was (busy).
.