I’m saying he is her motivation. And that it is okay for her to be motivated by him, instead of her own remorse, to try and find a better path
It’s not OK for Henry to be her sole motivating factor. Because what happens you remove that motivator? Exactly what happened. She goes back to evil. That’s putting an awful lot of responsibility on an 11 year old boy’s shoulders. That’s basically saying, “Be nice to her, don’t piss her off, don’t turn your back on her, don’t do anything wrong… because if you do, she’ll go back to her old ways.”
It’s great that she wants to change for Henry. But, he can’t be the only reason she wants to change. Because if she doesn’t get him in the end, or get him along the way in which she expects, then she’s going to give up and go back to how she was. Like they’ve already shown she’s done.
Regina needs to be on this redemption arc because of her own remorse, because it’s the right thing to do, and Henry can be that extra push she needs. Not the sole reason for it (as it stands now).