Are you a mother who feels tired and weary, and just wants a break from it all? Or maybe you know someone who is? Then this article is for you – a reminder for you to celebrate motherhood in all its messy glory!
How do we do that? Allow me to share a few pointers from the lovely ladies behind 100% Whole Mom: celebrity moms Marilen Faustino-Montenegro, Cheska Garcia-Kramer and Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio. I heard them speak recently at a workshop organized by Moleskine Philippines at Vask Manila.
Photo by Sheila Catilo
Titled “Moleskine Celebrates Motherhood,” here are my main takeaways from the event:
1. Cherish your memories.
After teaching us how to make beautiful floral arrangements with the help of Fiora Manila, Marilen gave tips on creating coffee table vignettes. She highlighted the importance of including special keepsakes on our coffee tables.
This was a good reminder to cherish the memories we make with our families, and to display them proudly via photos or other memorabilia. Remember, beautiful memories – not material things – are part of the essentials of a happy home. When we cherish our memories, we are actually already celebrating motherhood.
2. Take care of yourself because you deserve it.
Cheska’s short talk about being beautiful inside and out was a good reminder for me – and all the moms present – that it’s important to take care of ourselves so we can take care of those we love.
Sometimes, when we are so busy taking care of our families – especially our kids – we forget that. We neglect ourselves, which should not be the case. As a mom, you deserve to be pampered every so often, so don’t feel guilty about it. Celebrate motherhood by celebrating you.
3. Always give yourself room to reflect on your life.
Photo by Sheila Catilo
Rica spoke about ordering one’s heart as a woman and as a mother, specifically by using the 4 R’s: Recreation, Relaxation, Relationships and Reflection.
One important lesson she shared was to always take time to reflect on one’s life; to ask yourself how you are every day; to remember that you are greatly loved by a great God.
One way to do this reflection is to keep a journal. Every mom present at the event had a jumpstart at journaling using personalized notebooks provided by Moleskine (which, by the way, has both classic designs and designs based on characters like those from Toy Story, the Little Prince and the Peanuts gang – how adorable!).
Photo by Sheila Catilo
Journaling is actually therapeutic for some moms (and non-moms, I’m sure), so it was good that Rica brought it up during the workshop. It’s important to remember though that even if you’re not into journaling, you can and should carve out some time in your day for reflection – it will do you wonders, believe me!
Of course, there are more than three ways to celebrate motherhood – you could say that the aforementioned ways form just the tip of the iceberg! So we’d like to hear from you in the comments: What other things do YOU think we can do to celebrate motherhood?