Mother's Day: A Time for Reflection & Resolution

Hello friends from around the world! I hope you're having a great day!

It's just about 8AM where I'm at. It's a bit cool and cloudy, and we're expecting some showers, but hey, I love the rain, so I'm projecting it's gonna be a fantabulous day.

I intend to smile a lot, hug my kids a lot, tell my husband I love him a lot... that's the frequency I'm tapping into, guys- all love over here.

Today, I'd like to invite you to take part in a small exercise with me. I'd like for you to take a walk with me to the easel of our imagination. The canvas is there, the brushes are there, the paints are there, and this is the picture we're gonna paint.

Picture lying in bed in the morning. The air is cool, the grass is still wet with dew, the sun is just rising over the horizon.

Imagine that the house you're lying in is a wooden house, and the room you're in faces the morning sun. As you sleep, the sun's rays creep through cracks in the wall to peek at you in bed, under the covers.

The sun caresses your skin gently, urging you to rise and greet the day before the last mist fades. You're lying in bed, absorbing this moment when your loud sibling comes into the room, singing at the top of her lungs, "Wake up everybody, no more sleeping in bed!"

That loud sibling is me, y'all. Can you see me?

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Okay, so let's get into it.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day, my friends, and so I just want to extend best wishes or, as my North American friends would say, give flowers to all the fellow mothers, the motherly, and to all the fathers as well who sometimes must stand up and take on the role of a mother in a single parent home. You guys are awesome!

I have often said that the single most important and most challenging task that I have had the honor to assume is that of motherhood.

It's not just a matter of giving birth to our young, but it's the honor of shaping the lives and minds, pouring love into the hearts of the young men and women who must grow up and contribute to building our world tomorrow.

That is a huge deal!

And so, I'd say Mother's Day is more than just a day to be pampered, to have our feet placed on cushions, to regally receive gifts and flowers and poems and chocolates and affirmations of love.

New Year's Day for Mothers

Mother's Day, for me, is the start of a new year of parenting. It's like New Year's Day for mothers. Work with me here, guys, think about this.

Mother's Day presents us with an opportunity to quietly reflect on the year past- our goals for our children, those that we were able to accomplish and those that we may not have been able to.

It's an opportunity to also reflect on our children's growth. This might be physical growth, this might be an academic achievement, this might be their moral, character, or spiritual development as well, right?

Reflections are great, my friends, because in the day to day moment sometimes, you might not be able to measure your progress well. But when you look back over the span of a year, you can see how far you have come. And I am a firm believer in looking back with purpose. So more than just reflecting for reflection's sake, this is also an opportune time to set out our resolutions for the year ahead.

The Year Past: Another Year of Pandemics

"The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be..." - Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, the Blue Notes

For many parents, the past year would have continued the period of pandemics, and many of us who weren't traditionally home schooling moms would have had to continue to adjust to the new dynamic of parenting where our children were at home all the time.

If you were in a country where there were strict lockdowns, you would have had to also adjust together with your children, or continue to adjust, rather, to the fact that there weren't many outdoor recreational activities they could have engaged in.

Mothers, by nature, are their children's first teachers. During the pandemic, in addition to overseeing our children's personal development, many of us were tasked with the responsibility of managing their academic learning as well which brought its own challenges.

See why you deserve your flowers, moms?

And then there was the reopening for many of us, and our children returned to school, and it was like weaning them all over again, taking them back out of the cocoon of their homes and sending them out into the world.

Some children struggled with social anxiety because of this, as did some adults, and so, it was up to us, and is up to us to provide them with the love and support and encouragement and nurturing they need as they learn to use their legs again, right? Which brings me to resolutions.

The Year Ahead: Year Of Purpose and Progress

"Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
'Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children teach em the very best you can." -- Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, the Blue Notes

This is what I proclaim for the year ahead, mommies, a year of purpose and progress for our children.

And I understand that we can't desire progress without also rolling up our sleeves and getting to work.

Imagine a baker sitting at a table with flour, eggs, sugar, butter, etc., and expecting a cake to magically appear. That would be ridiculous, right? Well, similarly, dreaming of a better world for our children without putting in the effort to create that world would also be ridiculous.

I dream of a world of love and support and encouragement and unity, and focus. And I understand that it may not be in my generation or even the next, I get that, we're still working on the foundation of it, but I am trying my best to ensure that my children are equipped with the skills to carry on in concert with others, because I am going to trust that one day that world that I dream of will be.

And so, here's my resolution. I am going to continue to:

• Love my kids,

• Encourage them,

• Uplift them,

• Steer them in the right direction,

• Provide them with the support they need to enjoy life,

• Teach them the importance of compassion and respect for each other.

I see it as my duty to help my children to understand that as they navigate through this world, this is a shared space and no one likes to feel squeezed, so it's important to have a little bit of understanding for the other guy as well. I'm working on it, my friends, as I am sure all of the loving mothers on this page are. We've got this!

And so, Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I hope you have a great day. And Moms, if you can find the time, I'd love to know what your parenting resolutions are for the year ahead. Take care, and we'll chat soon.