There comes a moment in every girl’s life when they are suddenly the age they remember their mother being. Throughout our lives our mothers’ lives seem very distant from our own, a whole other path, until at about the age of 40, they tend to collide.
I find myself saying the same things to my kids as my mother said to me, catching myself every time. I look down and I recognize those hands, and those legs, seeing my mother’s body as it was when she was 40, and I was young and silly.
And so I learn. The things that never made sense before, make complete sense as I live them for myself, and my understanding of the person my mother was, and is, grows with every year.
When I first started having kids Mother’s Day was ME. It was MY turn. I wanted to spend my day as I chose, with my kids, and I know I drifted away from my own mother at this time.
Now, firmly secured into my 40s, I am able to see the whole picture, how family is tied together, and this whole thing is bigger than just me.
I look at my hands as I am typing this, and I see my mothers hands, and where 5 years ago that gave me fear as I aged and “caught up” with the vision of who she was when I was a child, now it does the opposite.
I am lucky if I am on the same path as my mother. I would be grateful to end up where she is.
My mother is active and embraces life. She still adventure travels with my Dad, challenging Matchu Pitchu, travelling Australia and pretty much up for whatever you throw at her. She is in her 70’s, but spending an active week with our kids and farm is still easy for her. Not only does she help us haul firewood uphill from our forest, she outdoes me as we work side-by-side.
My first taste of cooking and baking came from my mother, and while she handed over the spatula to my Dad when they retired, she showed me what a bit of chocolate and butter can create and gave me a love of preparing food for my family. I remember begging her to just BUY a box of cookies, since my friends all had them and we ALWAYS had home made ones. (tough eh)
But through all her passion and energy, she still finds time to balance. My mom welcomes anyone into her world, always happy to take an evening to entertain. She can create conversation easily, and is kind and patient to everyone she meets. She knows how to STOP. How to sit back, relax, and dive into a good book, even though she is always willing to put it down if something else is happening.
She has not only shown me, but PROVEN to me that a healthy lifestyle creates a long life, and that balance, laughter and perhaps an extra bottle of wine helps too.
I not only feel lucky to have my mother still here, but also have her available and involved in my life, and as the years go by and I realize these things more each year, I also see how I have taken these things for granted.
I am terrible at gifts and honestly don’t remember the LAST gift I gave my mom for Mother’s Day (do you remember mom?) I am not a great shopper, or planner, and fall back on “is it useful” so much that it takes the fun out of things. I know I forget to thank her, and remind her that I DID pay attention, and I DO know. I don’t think she knows all the things I remember of our childhood, all the moments that made an impact and that I take with me everyday.
I need to do better.
So I will.
This year I am thrilled to have ordered some of BestBuyCanada’s favourite Mom picks for Mother’s Day. Not only are the options amazing, I can see 1 or 2 (well, maybe THREE) things on this list that would be perfect for my adventurous, creative and completely balanced mom.
I mean, what would YOU do? Would you get your mom a Kobo Glo HD 6″ Digital eBook Reader, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab?
Or perhaps mom is more the “stylish type” and would prefer a Fossil Sydney Leather Wallet, OR Kate Spade New York Leather Wristlet & Hard Shell Case Gift Set?
Or, maybe mom likes the sparkles and a Classic 10K Gold Heard Pendant & Earrings Set. And if that isn’t practical enough, maybe the Bulova Women’s Analog Dress Watch is better?
Of course you can always pimp up her kitchen with the Vitamix Professional Countertop Blender, or make it easier for her to whip up something fabulous with the CTA Digital Bamboo Cutting Board with iPad Stand and Knife storage.
Or if mom is more into sweat that sweets, the ÖKO ODYSSEY 6-in-1 Filtration Water Bottle will keep her safe and healthy no matter WHERE she treks, and she can track it all with Fitbit Alta Fitness Tracker!
The GREAT news is these items, and more are available at Best Buy RIGHT now and are the perfect items to make your Mother’s Day shopping meaningful, AND easy!
The BEST part is though that BestBuy loves YOUR mom as much as you do, and wants to make sure her day is special. Enter below to WIN a BestBuy CANADA gift card, valued at $250! You must be over 18 to win, and this giveaway is open to Canadian residence, excluding Quebec.
So what did I choose for my amazing mom this Mother’s day? Well, I guess you’ll all have to wait to see (wouldn’t want to spoil her surprise now, would we?).