Staying Connected as a Mom
With Mothers Day coming up, I can’t help but think about how much I love being a Mom myself – something I KNOW I wouldn’t be as good at, or understand the importance of, if it hadn’t been for my own amazing Mothers examples.
I have to be honest and say that my Mom and I struggled with our relationship for quite a while… and we still do sometimes.
As much as both me, my Mom and my sister would have probably loved to be in one of those relationships where the mother and daughters grew up always being BEST friends, who counted on each other for everything, hugged all the time and shared their deepest, darkest secrets together… we just weren’t that way.
This has a LOT to do with my defiant, stubborn, driven, passionate personality, and my Mom’s complete opposite nature of being, patient, soft spoken and always content.
It was hard for us all to understand each other as I grew up, and it got even tougher when I turned into a teenager and my sister, who was 5 years older than me left the house.
After I set out on my own and eventually got married, things changed. I started realizing that the world doesn’t revolve just around ME (eeehhmm), I started having kids, and I quickly recognized how much I’d taken my Mom and her selfless, always happy, willing to help anyone ways, for granted.
I’ve constantly struggled balancing my creative side with my nurturing side, when it comes to being a Mom. Every part of my body wants to GO, CREATE, MOVE, ACCOMPLISH and FINISH something AMAZING! But then I also have this little voice inside that says… “Slow down, sit, be still, remember your kids, family, responsibilities.” And the dreaded phrase “they won’t be little forever” almost always brings me immediately to tears.
It’s like, I feel perfectly fine doing everything I’m doing until somebody or something else tells me I’m not giving one side or the other enough attention. It’s been a tough balance to master for me, and something that I’ll be forever grateful to my Mom for, is the ability to be able to recognize when her difficult, spastic, sometimes crazy daughter is feeling like this.
It took me a couple of years to realize it, but in the moments throughout my life as a Mom myself that I’ve felt the most guilty or inadequate, MY Mom has been there to help pick up the slack, as the worlds BEST Grandma
… and this is where we started building the foundation of friendship, understanding and love together, as we’ve gotten older – through both of us intensely loving MY kids, and HER grandkids.
No matter what kind of Mom you are, there’s nothing better in this whole world, than seeing other people love your children as much as you do. And that’s what my Mom does for my little girls, and ALL of her grandkids.
Hugs, kisses, tough love, life lessons, silliness, adventure… she covers it all, and it amazes me. I can’t imagine her not in my life – and especially not in my children’s lives. Both sets of grandparents are such a huge part of my kids’ happiness, and I am so grateful that we’ve been able to surround our girls with people who adore and cherish them as much as me and Cason do.
Staying constantly connected as a family has probably been my Mom’s #1 request as we’ve all grown older, ventured away from home and gotten busier.
When you ask my Mom what she wants for ANY holiday, she almost always responds first with: “Just my kids and grandkids at my house, together.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, technology is AMAZING for this purpose. Whether it’s a funny video sent through email of grandkids showing off their latest dance moves, a silly text thread with siblings, or our traditional “hover around the kitchen table every Sunday and video chat with daughters, sisters, aunts and cousins far away”… we have ALWAYS respected, and come to love and appreciate the value of staying in touch with each other.
This year for Mothers Day, I was more than happy to team up with Verizon Wireless for this post, to help promote the importance of telling your Mom you love her through one of the best kind of gifts – the power of technology.
I know that for me and my busy life, telling my Mom how I feel all the time face to face is tough, so being able to communicate heartfelt little “I think you’re great” or “You mean a lot to me” messages, is what I love using technology for.
This past Christmas we gave our own kids tablets, and already I’m giddy over how they have been so great for me to use as another way to quickly, yet meaningfully communicate with them.
There really is nothing better than being flooded by messages, emails and an Instagram feed full of pictures from the people you adore. So when gift-giving this year to your Mom, consider something awesome from Verizon Wireless, that will help her stay connected to all the things that she loves the most in life… her family!
For more ideas on ways to make this Mother’s Day extra special, head on over to Style Me Pretty Living. You’ll find decorating and DIY tips, as well as recipes you’ll love!
Compensation for this post was provided by Verizon Wireless via AOL Media.
The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Verizon Wireless // We strive to only partner with and endorse companies who promote products and messages that we already love, and know you can appreciate too!
Lisa says
That's great 🙂 Family is so important, more so as we all get older. We always have to remember to take a few minutes out of our busy lives to call or visit. Time goes by way too fast.
Ashley Johnston says
Okay, that text message between you are your little lady is pretty dang adorable! I mean…..I don't even know her voice, but you can kinda hear her saying it! 🙂 Technology is amazing for so many reasons!
-Ashley
JL says
Really lovely. Thank you for sharing. =)