The One Gift to Give Your Mom/Esteemed Female

If you read The Mom Handbook a few days ago, you would have read how we, as Moms are the experts on holding onto our "failures" in child rearing. Those moments when even decades later,we want to hang our heads in shame about how we reacted.

(Hint: take a Time Out for every one you give your child.)

Today I will ask you to give something to your Mom/Esteemed Female that only you can give. Call her/email her/Skype or FaceTime with her and tell her one happy memory of your time together. It could be anything that touched and filled your heart with love.

• How she made you the best Princess Halloween costume one year. Was it pink with sparkles?
• How she dropped you a block away from the party so you could retain your independent dignity.
• Maybe how she raced from the airport to attend your cello recital.
• Or sitting and colouring with you all rainy afternoon while you had the chicken pox.

Tell your Hero today! Tell her what she did that still sticks with you. Tell her that you remember her humour/kindness/wisdom/tenacity and what it means to you today.

It will be a Gift that only you can give her. It will be priceless. A Gift that will mean more to her than you know.


Tell her that you remember her humour/kindness/wisdom/tenacity and what it means to you today. (Click to Tweet)

The Mom Handbook

Mom's Day is approaching and I'm still feeling some guilt.

I have been a Mom for a lot of years. Whether I wanted to or had no other reference points, I adopted the universal beliefs that were handed to me. Decades before the web was easily accessible, we learned about motherhood through word of mouth and action.

Like many of my generation, we did what our mother's did, because that's the way we were raised. Polite and not questioning. There might have been a stirring of doubt, but we mostly just followed the rules.

And now, what we remember most about those days, is what we did wrong. Guilt was a big part of motherhood back then, it inched into our thinking and was slow to release in spite of our best intentions.

Looking back, many rules were just silly things, nothing that would have the least consequence for the contributing adults that we've raised.

• Your child should finish what's on their plate
• Every child should be in bed at a pre-determined time...regardless
• Why isn't he crawling/walking/talking or toilet trained by now?
• You should care what your mother/neighbour/school/church thinks of your child's behaviour
• Take it upon yourself to settle sibling squabbles when your kids are 3 or 13 or 23

And the list goes on..

So whether your child is 3 or 30, believe me life will go on. They will survive and so will you. Forgive yourself RIGHT NOW!

We are all human and are learning as we go. This is the first moment of our life that we are standing in this experience.

Today, throw away those thoughts, worries and guilt.

Throw it away and be good to yourself.


 This is the first moment of our life that we are standing in this experience. (Click to Tweet)