Introducing Celebrating Mothers week
If you ask me what I am most proud of in life, I will always tell you – my children. I make no apologies for the countless ways in which I celebrate all five of my children, through my blog, in the posts that I write, the photographs I share and the stories I tell.
I can sing my children’s praises at the drop of a hat, at the check-out in the supermarket, sharing my son’s glowing report from parents evening that week, in the doctors waiting room, regaling the person next to me with tales of the hilarious comment that Megan said over breakfast that morning. In the park, the playground, to anyone who will listen, I will never run out of ways to tell you how special these children are to me.
And it’s funny because as much as I love to share how amazing my children are, I often overlook the fact that actually, being a Mother to them is pretty amazing too. And, although loving my children is easy, parenting them is the toughest challenge I have ever faced. Through our battles to conceive them, to carry them to term, throughout their labours, their time in hospital, those sleepless nights, dirty nappies and the days when I wondered how we would ever survive, it is without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever faced.
There’s quote about Motherhood which I love, it says, –
“Motherhood is a choice you make every day to put someone else’s happiness and well-being ahead of your own. To teach the hard lessons. To do the right thing, even when you’re not sure what the right thing is. And to forgive yourself over and over again for doing everything wrong.”
And I can so relate to that, so quick to blame myself for the things I cannot change, to berate myself for snapping at the children during the chaos of the school run, for being too busy, too tired, too caught up in trying to do the right thing when in all honesty, most days I am winging it with the rest of you. Never do I take a moment to commend myself on raising four children, for making it through every single day without one of my children in my arms, for holding together a home, a job, a family, a life. Never once do I remind myself of the fact that actually, us Mothers are truly amazing.
And yet one fantastic blogger who continuously celebrates other Mums is Pearl, from Miraculous Mums. When she approached me about collaborating on a week long project to celebrate Mothers together, I knew that it was something that I, and all of you, not only needed, but deserved. And we have a whole host of posts to share with you, ranging from Mothers Day baking, crafts, giveaways, interviews and personal accounts from both Pearl and I on how being Mothers, and having Mothers, has shaped our lives.
We would love for you to join us over on social media throughout the week, using the hashtag #CelebratingMothers to show us the moments that make you proud, the photos which best sum up this crazy world or parenting, the beautiful little faces that made you a Mother and the ways in which you too celebrate Motherhood. At the end of the week we will be choosing a winner to receive their very own personalised photographic mug from www.mrnutcase.com.
We are so looking forward to sharing this week with you and celebrating the fact that, as amazing as our children are, us Mums are pretty amazing too!!
Sounds ace and yes, mums rock!! Popping over from #marvmondays
They certainly do!! xx
Oh what a totally gorgeous idea! Will definitely join in! #MarvMondays
Thanks lovely, will look forward to it! xx
I love this post! So true all you say here. Motherhood is tough, no doubt, but I too am so grateful to be a mum, and to have these little ones to cuddle every day. Beautiful idea to celebrate mums and being a mum! #mg
Thank you Mac. It’s the hardest job in the world, and yet the best job absolutely. I’m looking forward to sharing the week with you. xx
just wanted to send you a huge virtual HUG! I know how tired you are and I want you to know I am thinking of you and going you make some time for yourself. You are amazing, never forget that!
Ahh Mac, thank you so much. Virtual hugs right back at you my lovely friend. xxx
Ho lovely! Totally agree with everything you have said. I will be taking part! #postsfromtheheart
Hi not Ho 🙂
Thank you, I think we often over look how amazing we are as Mums, I’m hoping this week we can all celebrate our successes!! xx
This is a lovely idea and such gorgeous photos. You really are one beautiful family! Thanks for joining us for #marvmondays xx
Thank you so much Fran. I’m really excited to share our week with you all, and hopefully remind us all how amazing us Mums are!! xx
What a gorgeous idea! Looking forward to seeing the posts and I’ll certainly be joining in on social media xx #marrvmondays
Ahh thank you Fi, I shall look forward to it. xxx
What a fantastic post. You’ve linked to some really great Mum bloggers!!
Thanks Jon, I’m really excited for a fantastic week ahead! xx
What a lovely idea 🙂 Being a mum is incredibly hard but amazing! x
I completely agree. Best job in the world, but absolutely the hardest! xx
Love the idea of celebrating mothers and those who mother us (who may not be our mothers). #mg
Absolutely, we as women are a cause to be celebrated! xx
I have a lot of respect for Mums. You have a hard job and I don’t think it’s always acknowledged 🙂
Thanks Jo, I agree, and I think it’s us Mums who don’t acknowledge it like we should. We do the hardest job in the world, about time we celebrated that! xx
Yes all us mums are awesome, you have 4 beautiful little munchkins their and you are dong an amazing job x
Thank you Lindsey, I often forget how amazing we are, this week is all about us! xx
what a lovely post and amazing pictures, you do great! x
Thank you Natalia. xx
I love anything that celebrates mothers – and that quite is just perfect.
Me too, I think we seriously under sell ourselves, we are amazing! xx
A lovely idea and you write about it all so beautifully, combined with stunning photos. Alison x #mg
Thank you Alison, I’m looking forward to sharing our week with you all! xx
Aw what a lovely way of recognizing the beauty of mothers and the collaboration will be a great way to foster community spirit in the parenting community x
Thanks Ana, Mothers deserve to be celebrated don’t they? One day didn’t seem enough, a week is far more fitting! xx
What a great idea, perfect for mothers day. I love all the photos of you and your children – beautiful xx
Thank you so much. xx
popping back from #candidcuddles, again I love this idea xx
Thanks lovely. xxx
I just love this! What a beautiful idea!
#postsfromtheheart
Ahh thank you Kellie. xxx
What a lovely idea. Beautiful post and pictures 🙂 You have such a lovely family Laura.
Thank you so much, they are very special that’s for sure. xxx
Such a lovely idea… I’ve added the tag already over on Instagram to some rather low but realistic motherhoodmoments this week! Aargh, been a tough one xxx
#dreamteam
Ahh thank you so much for joining in with the tag. And I sympathise with the real moments, they aren’t the prettiest but they are the most honest. I hope that today is a good day! xxx
I can’t wait to tell my mum that she’s about to be a grandma! Special Mother’s Day coming up… and she is totally not going to have a clue. #dreamteam
Oh that’s so lovely, what an amazing Mothers Day present!! You should film it! xx
This is a superb idea. We mums are pretty awesome and need that bit of appreciation and celebration. Cheers to us mums!
#dreamteam
Thanks Nicole, high five Mama!! xx
Five children is undoubtedly an achievement!
Thank you, I think so too actually! xx
This is such an incredible idea. You are so right that we so often forget the job we do as a mummy, we should all sit back a little more often and be glad of what we have achieved – even if sometimes that is just getting through the day. Thank you for sharing this with us at #PostsFromTheHeart
Thanks lovely. That’s exactly it, even the smallest things to us are actually the biggest achievements!! Thank you for hosting as always. xxx
What a wonderful idea! It’s easy to judge ourselves, but overall, I think mums are doing a fantastic job! Will tag when I can! #triumphanttales #postsfromtheart
Thank you Ann, we really do deserve to be celebrated! xx
I love this idea! Mums certainly should be celebrated, so I will be joining in 🙂 #MarvMondays
Thank you Abi, will look forward to seeing your photos! xx
What a lovely idea!! With Mother’s Day around the corner this is perfect! #Dreamteam
Thank you Catherine! xx
I love that quote about motherhood, it is so true. My well- being was always more important for my mom than her own. It’s a great idea to encourage other ladies to celebrate their motherhood- you’re all doing great job!:)
Thanks Kat, it’s one of my favourite quotes, I think we can all relate cant we? xx
That is a lovely idea, us Mum’s often get forgotten about
Thanks Kara. xx
What a wonderful idea. We all love our kids but we do forget about ourselves and all we do. But I think it is worth it to see them smiling and happy 🙂
#TriumphantTales
Thanks Ali. It definitely makes it worth it when we see them so happy, but every now and then it’s nice to think of ourselves too! xx
What a fantastic idea because no matter what anyone says, we do an amazing job as mums. And yes, we should celebrate! #mg
Thanks Carol. We definitely deserve to be celebrated! xx
Oh this is just lovely! I really want to join in. Does it start from now? Thanks so much for linking this up to #DreamTeam! 🙂
Yes! All good to go! Thank you for joining us! xx
What a fab idea. I never praise myself enough. Motherhood is tough x
So tough!! We Mums are amazing! xx
Such a great idea, we really do overlook ourselves far too much. Love that quote too!
#DreamTeam
Thanks Alana. xx
What a beautiful post and lovely idea, Laura. I so agree that motherhood is the hardest thing I’ve ever done too, but it has also been the making of me. As your quote says, learning to truly put others before yourself is such a big part of it. Not that I was totally selfish before, but I’ve learned how to be strong when I don’t feel strong, because I have to for my kids’ sake. The pre-mum me would have just curled up into a ball and coddled myself when things were bad, but I don’t and can’t do that anymore. Thanks so much for linking up with #EatSleepBlogRT. Hope you can join again next week.
I totally agree, it has made me a much better person, and probably the person who I was meant to be. I never really understood what love was before I had the children, to put someone elses needs before my own and realise what is important. Motherhood is the best isn’t it? xxx
I love this idea Laura and the reminder to celebrate mums. That quote is so very true – especially the last sentence about having to forgive yourself for doing things wrong. It is so easy to beat ourselves up over the many mistakes we make and to forget about all the things that we do right each day. Mums are amazing and we should focus more on this sometimes! #candidcuddles
Thanks Louise. It’s one of my favourite quotes, I beat myself up every single day for the things I have done, and am doing, wrong. I think we should go easier on ourselves and accept that we are doing the best we can! Plus our kids think we are amazing, and that’s the most important thing! xx
This is such a lovely idea, we forget to celebrate ourselves! We grow, carry and nurture our children, but we tend to celebrate their achievements and not our own. #TriumphantTales
Absolutely, and we really should celebrate ourselves, we are amazing!! xx
So true we get so caught up in celebrating our little ones that we sometimes forget ourselves. #mg
I am always bottom of my priorities, I think that’s what us Mums do! xx
This is such a great idea – especially with Mothering Sunday this week! #postsfromtheheart
Thank you! xx
This is a wonderful idea and thanks so much for linking it up to #TriumphantTales. I hope you’ve had a lovely Mother’s Day. xx
Thank you, you too!! xx
Oh my goodness, that quote really speaks to me! It totally sums up what motherhood is all about – love, uncertainty, worry & perseverance to do the best for your children. And I love the part that says while not knowing what that is! What a lovely idea to celebrate mothers all week! Thank you for sharing with us at #candidcuddles xx
It’s one of my favourites, it really sums it up doesn’t it? I hope you had a wonderful mothers day. xx
This sounds amazing! It sucks I missed it all!! I hope this week was a success for you both and all of us mums were celebrated like us amazing mums should be!
Thank you for linking up another post to #TriumphantTales. Looking forward to reading more of your work!
Thank you! It was lovely to celebrate us Mums! xx