Celebrating My Mom with Dove

This post is part of YummyMummyClub.ca‘s support of the Dove® Celebrate Mom Contest. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors. You can nominate inspiring moms here: www.CelebrateMom.ca

I was asked to participate in the YummyMummyClub.ca‘s  promotion of the Dove Celebrate Mom Contest and looked around for inspiration. I really couldn’t come up with anyone or anything that really did it for me. Even though I am surrounded by wonderful, beautiful and strong women, I was looking to highlight someone really special because I feel that I really should support Dove and their celebration of real and inspiring moms. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the purple dinosaur in that we are all special, but I wanted to nominate somebody who really goes above and beyond. All the  ideas that I have about real role models, personal strength and inspiration to live my life to its fullest, the best way possible, always lead back to the same mom: My own.

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Just the other day my mom came over to babysit my kids so I could go out on a date night with my husband. While she was here she was upsetting me because it seemed that she was constantly telling me what I should be doing and how to do things right.

“Your roses are dead. You should have picked them and put them in a vase. Flowers make your house come alive.”

“Didn’t you do any laundry today? If you had done laundry I would have folded it and put it away for you.”

“I was going to empty your dishwasher, but you forgot to run it today.”

This was increasingly raising my blood pressure. I know that all of these things need to be done, but as somebody who is running a business it’s difficult to get all my work done, spend quality time with my kids and try to live up to my mother’s standards of how I should keep my house. I’m simply too busy and I can’t do it all. I am ok to admit this.

I was angry and to be honest a little hurt. Doesn’t she realize that I’m under a lot of stress and doing my best?

“Hey mom, do you think maybe you could forget all of those things and just maybe say something nice?”

“Of course I can. You look beautiful today.”

Typical of my mom, always speaking her mind but always ready with a compliment. Laughing I thought to myself, go figure she thinks I look beautiful. Standing there in no make up, my hair pulled back, wearing a cotton tank top, jeans and Birkenstocks, I was far from what society would think is beautiful. But that’s the one thing about my mother, no matter who is on the cover of Vogue, she always thinks I’m beautiful.

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I grew up in an all female household. My father died when my mother was only 37. I was young and my mother was left in a new country, with two young girls to raise, a new mortgage and no idea how to balance a chequebook. She learned quickly.

Grieving, she had no desire to be with another man. Her love for my father was strong and something that I do admire in my mother is that she doesn’t regret her choices. She believed in herself. With the help of family she did a great job raising us. She didn’t need a man.

She is truly an independent woman. Never wanting to bring a man home to tell her how to raise her daughters, she worked hard. She managed her finances well and I honestly don’t know how. Looking back on it, she didn’t make very much money but she always made it work. She has impeccable credit, has never owed anybody any money and I feel that I grew up with everything that I could ever want or need.

My mother lives life with integrity and great morals. She is respectful of people, is polite, helpful and sympathetic. A true humanitarian, she has taught me to love, to be kind and to always give of myself. As a child, I watched as she tirelessly visited her aging aunt. How she helped new immigrants to Canada find work. She always has a nice word for someone, be it friend or stranger. She is open with her life and her experiences, always ready to give you advice if you want to listen.

We recently visited the old age home where my father’s 96 year-old aunt lives, and I was in absolute awe of my mother. The way she moved through there. Saying hello to everyone. Genuinely asking how complete strangers were feeling. Helping some of them up from their wheelchairs, fetching water, asking another how her day was going. She asked them their names and made them feel human. She elicits smiles. She makes a connection with people. Connects with people as fellow humans. As equals. No matter what their age, where they come from or how they live their lives.

When I was younger I thought it was funny – and sometimes annoying – how when walking down the street or through the mall with her she stops every five minutes to say hello to a friend or acquaintance. How she genuinely cares and asks them about their lives. How she actually takes the time to listen to their answers and offers kind words.

She is a strong woman who came to Canada with big hopes and dreams only to be widowed at a young age with small children. Her strength, perseverance and her belief in God and human kind are awe-inspiring. If anyone can make delicious lemonade out of rotten lemons, it’s my mom, and you can bet that she’ll share every last drop.

She always told us to follow our dreams, to work hard and to play harder. She always said, “Use your brains and you’ll go far.” She used to drive me to parties as a teenager and always said as I was leaving the car, “Have fun, but be wise.” She was full of compliments, “Your hair looks nice, twirl around in that top so that I can see how it flows when you’re out dancing tonight.” “Stay together girls, there is strength in numbers.” Be kind. Help people. “One hand washes the other.”

My mom has always been supportive and happy with whatever my sister and I chose to do with our lives. She is proud of us and really she has only herself to thank. She not only instilled these positive traits in us by repeating them as a mantra, but she lived them. She taught us by example. She deserves a strong pat on the back and a warm hug. She is a fantastic role model. She deserves this nomination to the Dove Celebrate Mom Contest.

While she will always comment if we aren’t wearing earrings or at least a little lip-gloss, she always loves us and believes that we are beautiful no matter what we wear or what size our bodies are. She knows that real beauty lies in how you live your life, and she has lived hers well. She is beautiful in every sense of the word.

My mom.

Only 9% of Canadian girls (ages 10-17) are most comfortable using the term “beautiful” to describe their looks. This saddens me. As a mother of a little girl I want to make sure that she grows up feeling beautiful simply for being true to herself and for being a good person. After all, we reap what we sow. My mother is helping me nurture positivity and self-esteem in her and for that I am forever grateful.

Do you have an inspiring role model in your life? Do you have a story about a Canadian mom that you want to share with the world? I would love to read about her and I would love for you to nominate her in this fantastic contest by Dove. We need to celebrate great women. Women who are raising children and doing it well!

Visit www.CelebrateMom.ca by September 4th to nominate a mom who’s an inspiring role model to women and girls in the Dove® Celebrate Mom Contest. Four inspiring women will win $2,500 for herself and $2,500 to be donated to the charity of her choice.

And check out more stories on YummyMummyClub.ca about amazing role model moms: www.yummymummyclub.ca/family/mummy/celebrate-a-mom-in-your-life.