An Ode to my Mother

05/02/2016

Written by: Rebecca

I read an article once that said when women turn 35 they realize they become more like their mothers. The article suggested that most women saw this as a negative, but I believe most of us would embrace this. Though we may not want to be exactly like them, I’m sure there are a few characteristics we want to inherit.

My mother was a stay-at-home mom of four; two boys, two girls. She used to say she’d won the lottery twice. (Having a boy and a girl then was known as “winning the family lottery”). My mother attended every school field trip, drove us to every extracurricular activity or lesson, brought us to the family cottage for the entire summer, sent care packages to us in college, cleaned, cooked, and sewed every single Halloween costume I can remember wearing.

Being a mom was her passion. She loved it. She wanted her children to experience as much as they could. She always had time and made time. We never rushed through anything, whether is was a trip to the beach or making a science fair project.  She was great at just enjoying and experiencing moments with us and made time for the daily duties of a mother after we had gone to sleep.

When I first became a mom I realized how important time was. Taking care of baby, a household, running errands and making appointments really took a lot of time.  I learned quickly that sometimes a walk to the park was more import then the load of laundry that needed to be done. Or that a grilled cheese was an acceptable dinner because an extra long nap cancelled the trip to the grocery store.  Some days there may not have been time to clean and make a full course dinner, but the time I did spend playing and laughing with my little one was way more important.

Today I’m a mother of three little ones and its amazing how important time is. Some days start at 5am and don’t finish until midnight. Cooking, cleaning, activities, appointments, play dates, meals and naps all take time and how we spend that time is what’s important.  Giving my children time to experience, learn and laugh are what’s import to me because like my childhood I can remember the trips to the cottage, sailing excursions, horseback riding lessons, flower picking, Christmas tree decorating and baking. What I can’t remember is all of the time she took doing daily mom tasks because our time was what she wanted us to remember.

Thank you mom for making time for me and teaching me to make time for them. Definitely a trait I’m glad I’ve learned from you.