May 1, 2017

Making Time for Mum

It's coming up to that very special day in the year where we honour our mothers, and - if possible - pamper them (us)  a little ...

I always look forward to Mother's Day, as it's a time where I put my laptop away, I ignore all messages on my phone, and indulge in some quality time with my family. Personally, I like nothing more than spending the afternoon in lounge clothing (okay, let's call it what it is; tracky dacks or pyjamas), and introducing my darlings to a classic movie (eg; The Glass Bottom Boat, starring Doris Day, or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, or When In Rome, with Kristen Bell & Josh Duhamel)...

One of my earliest Mother's Day memories is holding the puke buckets for two children under three as they worked their way through a stomach bug. On Mother's Day. Beautiful. Never felt more like a mother, admittedly.
But if you're like me, this day can also be bittersweet. This is a day that I keenly feel the passing of my mother, Robin Joy Curtis.


It's on this day I remember my mother's skill in the kitchen - she was a fabulous cook, and not afraid to ... experiment. She also loved 50's Rock n Roll, craft, sewing, quilting and creating beautiful memoir journals for us all to treasure now that she's gone. I do remember one charming afternoon when my sisters and I were watching a movie with my mother (Bachelor Party, starring Tom Hanks), and she wanted us to explain a 'contemporary' reference - what was a head job? Being the good teen girls we were, we told her (after much giggling/tears) that it was a slang term for a cut and dry at the hairdressers. We thought we'd sufficiently dodged a rather awkward conversation - until our next visit to the hairdresser where my mother asked for head jobs all round.

And it's special moments like that that get me through Mother's Day. 😂

For this Mother's Day, I have one sincere wish for you all - that you get time to refill your well. Whether you're a stay-at-home mum, or a working mum (I actually believe these are one and the same), it's easy to get swept up in the hectic treadmill of daily life - looking after others, cooking, cleaning (well, if one could be bothered), and sometimes days pass when we've spent so much time focusing on our family and work, that we realise we haven't really spared time for ourselves. When that happens, we exhaust ourselves, or start getting the cranks, and gradually that eats at what we offer to those we share our home with. I know I'm guilty of that, squeezing work, writing and family into the day and trying to juggle all that goes along with that, and I know my mother was guilty of that, also.

Today, to celebrate Mother's Day coming up this weekend, I'd love for you to share your favourite *MUM* moment in the comments section. A winner will be randomly selected and will receive:

  • a copy of Heart Breaker, my latest novel
  • a beautiful mug for your preferred beverage
  • a special Byron Bay cookies pack (triple fudge choc)
  • some Belgian chocolates

And then you really will have to organise some 'me' time for yourself - no excuses!

Thanks for sharing, and a very Happy Mother's Day to you all! :)




22 comments:

  1. Shannon

    What a beautiful post I still have tears in my eyes I will be missing my Mum again this year she taught me the love of reading romances and we shared many a book and a smile and I always feel she is still reading eith me 💗

    One of the funniest stories was when I passed her my mobile phone to speak to obe of my sisters and she pulled a face and saud she couldn't hear anything she had it upside down we all still laugh about her first use of a mobile phone

    Happ Mothers Day to you all

    Have Fun

    Helen

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    1. Hi Helen,

      Thanks so much for your comment! It is so poignant, isn't it, when we realise such an important person is no longer with us. Your mum sounds so lovely, and so similar to mine - she refused to deal with mobile phones all together, LOL!
      Happy Mother's Day to you!

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  3. When my son was born they kept him in the nursery overnight because he was small. Healthy, but small. Just a precaution.

    I was woken up in the morning by the nurse asking if I would like tea & toast. Sounded good to me .. and then it hit me. BOOM!! I had a baby somewhere.

    They brought him in and I felt such a strong sense of being totally responsible for this little person. It was not over-whelming just intense. I will never forget that feeling.

    I was a mother.

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    1. Hi Mary,
      Thanks for sharing - that was beautiful! It sparked some synapse connections for me, too, with the birth of my own children, and the 'OMG, now what?' shock of realising you're a parent for the first time, LOL!
      Happy Mother's Day - hope it's a special one for you!

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  4. This post was bittersweet to me since I've spent my entire adult life without Mum. She died about 2.5 months before I turned 18.
    Not sure that I'd class it as a favourite Mum moment, but there is one that is very memorable even if it's a bit bittersweet. Mum was a sole parent for a lot of my childhood and she definitely chose to go without things for herself. About a week before she died I returned from staying with family with a large box of shoes and instructions that Mum was to take the ones she wanted before sharing with the rest of the family in the area. This made Mum cry as apparently it was more new shoes than she'd had my entire life time. I'd already known she went without but it was this experience that brought home exactly how much to me.
    Count me out of the drawing, I'd prefer that the prize go to a mother if possible.

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  5. Hi Lyn,

    Wow, she sounds like a special woman, and you're so generous, thanks for comment, what a beautiful moment.

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  6. Hi Shannon, this post is very nice. I'm moved to read it. I am fortunate to have my mother still, I hope to stay with him for a long time. Sometimes my brothers and I take it around because it is maniac of the order and it is very habitual. If there are any unforeseen going into to panic.

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  7. As for you, Shannon, Mother's Day is a time of reflection for me. This is my 6th MOther's Day without my Mum and I sometimes panic when I think about how long it has been since I saw or heard her. I was just thinking the other day about how my dad had her voice on the answering machine for a couple of years after she died and how I often used to ring it just to listen to her one more time. I wish I'd thought to take a recording of her voice but c'est la vie.....

    I think this Mother's Day is going to be a tough one. Both my kids are now living overseas, so I think it will actually be quite a difficult day :-(

    But anyway....The Mother's Day that always springs to mind the most is the one that I spend packing and unpacking boxes as we moved houses that day!!! Happy Mother's Day to me! ;-)

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    1. Packing boxes and puke buckets. Makes us feel very mumsy, doesn't it!?
      Is it interesting what we hang on to? I've got one of my mother's scarf. Not really my colour/style, but can't bear to part with it.

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  8. Mum was a romantic. Anything to do with love, babies, unrequited love, lost love, dying love of your life etc.
    There was nothing on TV one night so she decided we'd go to the video store and hire a film. She chose 'A Kiss Before Dying' Okay, so it sounded just her cup of tea, so we settled down, lights dimmed, chocolates resting on the arm of her chair and then we witnessed about 5 murders in about 5 minutes. Turns out it was a deranged psychopath that kissed them before killing them. We turned to look at her and said in unison, 'Well you chose it.' She never lived it down. And of course we had to buy her her own copy for Christmas.

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    1. Classic! My mother was very strict with what came home from the video store, and that Bachelor Party was one of those movies, LOL!

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  9. OMG Shannon, that story about the head jobs had me falling off my chair laughing!

    I love Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I'm with you - a day on the couch, snuggled up with the kids watching movies - bliss.

    My mother wrote a letter to The Courier Mail (QLD main newspaper) which got published when I was in Grade 10 about how teenagers should 'JUST SAY NO' to sex. Let's just say that phrase followed me around to the end of my school days and beyond.

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    1. I think mothers have a special ability for creating 'awkward' memories for you, LOL! At my wedding she asked all my 'gentlemen friends' to return the front door key, now that I'm 'off the market'. Every male aged from 8-88 came forward. Let's just say there were a few shocked faces. Thanks for that. Obviously you know what's coming your way at the conference. But that's okay, you 'JUST SAY NO' LOL!!!!

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  10. What a poignant post, Shannon. I was in Mother's Day limbo for quite a few years between the passing of my mother and the birth of my daughter. My daughter always makes a big fuss of me and it's a very happy day!
    BTW you look gorgeous in your wedding dress, and your mum looks so like you!

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  11. My mom has been gone for 30 years, so that acute grief has gone. Nice to think of some mom moments. She came to visit me in Seville on my birthday and was so tickled by the Andalusian custom of buying flowers for your mom on your birthday. No gifts for the birthday girl, instead you express gratitude for your life.

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    1. Wow, what a beautiful custom, I love it! Thanks for sharing, Laura, it sounds like you have some lovely memories of that special lady!

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  12. Great post, Shannon!

    Mother's Day isn't a big celebration now that I live abroad. But we usually try to Skype home and I always send a card. I'm so lucky to still have my mum around. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 17, only three short years after losing my Nan to the same thing. But she's pasted her ten year remission mark a few years back and these days she lives life to the fullest. She's my best friend.

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  13. Gorgeous post Shannon. All goose pimply here.

    Mothers Day always falls on such a busy weekend for us. It's Middle's birthday as well as my sister-in-law's. And out local 'show' is on that weekend, as well as weekend sports. So it mostly gets lost in the rush.

    Last year my only request for the day was getting through it without having anyone call my name whilst I was...indisposed. And it worked! Not once, for an entire day, was I forced to shout - for the entire neighbourhood to hear - "I'm on the toilet!" Bliss!!!

    But oh how I love the idea of snuggling on the couch and introducing the kids to a favourite old movie. Mine are now old enough for that to be a superb option! Calamity Jane it is.

    Ally
    xXx

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  14. already have and read the book another winner Shannon congratulations ------LynW

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