My mom always wanted to be a mom. She is a nurturer at heart and truly a very natural mother. She was always there for us as kids, always warm, involved, and loving. I learned many things from her throughout the years and still continue to learn from her, but there are a few things that stand out as big gifts that I am very thankful for.
My mom stayed at home with us and was very present with my brother and I. I had one brother 3 1/2 years younger. As my brother and I grew a little older and entered elementary school, she wanted to express her creativity and musical talent and began teaching piano lessons. She later started a cake making business and after that decided to work in a clothing store. She and my Dad were quite creative. We didn’t have the ability to hire a general contractor at the time, so they would work to fix up and decorate our home regularly. At one point I remember having so much fun crawling through a hole in our kitchen floor to the basement laundry room. She and my Dad were remodeling the kitchen on their own and for some reason, the hole was part of that process. As I prepared to go off to college she went out and got her Interior Design credential to become ASID certified and now is a very successful designer. I watched her as she grew into the person she wanted to be and now it is also very important to me to find my gifts and passions and pursue them.
From the time I was very little, I was very determined and independent. I found my Mom’s attentiveness a little much at times. I wanted to do everything by myself! According to her, I also was very clear about it and said “I can do it by myself!” clearly and often!. Now that I’m a mom, I’m very grateful that she was so attentive and in tune. There were times where I could have ended up in a lot of trouble if she hadn’t had the intuition about a situation and acted upon it. She taught me by example to listen to my gut instinct on things and she shared stories with me about situations with people when they didn’t have her best interest at heart. I learned to be real and use instinct with all of my decisions. It took a while for me to really hone this gift but I know it was something I learned from watching her.
Another talent that my mom has is smelling the roses. She is one of the happiest people and knows when to stop and enjoy things. She relaxes much easier than me naturally and really feels what she is experiencing moment to moment. She always reminds me to slow down and take time off, to not work too hard, and enjoy life in the moment. I would venture to say that she’s a pro at it. Through the years, I have been annoyed at her promptings to relax. Now that I’m all grown up, I see that there is tremendous value in this and I am just now trying to master slowing down.
Every day that goes by, I realize new things that my mom taught me. There are many gifts that our mothers give us that we can’t fully appreciate until we experience certain things. I am forever grateful for the gifts and love she has shared with me that I now get to share with my girls. Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! It is the most important job in the world and even if you don’t get a lot of props on a regular basis, you are changing the world with what you are doing!