We are here again. Mother’s Day. This year, I’m really trying to focus on my kids and the honor of being their mother. And of course, I’m thinking extra about my mama.
I’ve been having a hard time really writing — whether that’s journaling or long-form writing. The main thing I have been doing is writing here, albeit sporadically. This week, I’m trying to pick back up journaling, using the below list of writing prompts to do so. Even if your loved one is still living, I’ve decided journals like this will be so wonderful to share with our children to get to know their family even better.
- A signature dish your mom made or perfected
- Her favorite saying
- A modern phrase/saying she couldn’t quite get
- Her favorite place (vacation, museum, restaurant, etc.)
- Something most people don’t know about your mom
- A time when your mom went above and beyond to help you
- First memory of your mom
- Something your mom always wanted to do and never got to
- Her nickname for you or you for her
- Her favorite story about you as a kid
- Your favorite thing about your mom
- Something that you and your mom loved to do together
I’m also doing a lot of the things I did last year that I found helpful.
Be kind to yourself. This is the most important one to me. If you want to be surrounded by family, make plans to do so. If you want to be alone or to not acknowledge the day at all, you are totally justified to choose that as well. Or if you’re like me, it’s fine to feel warm from the positivity of the day in connection with your two sweet children and feel so incredibly sad about the significance pertaining to your mom. It’s complicated. It’s messy. That’s ok.
Take back the Hallmark card aisle. I decided last year that I wasn’t going to let the Mother’s Day cards make me sad. Well, at least not completely. I instead spent an extra amount of time there picking out not one but a stack of cards. This year I did it again. I’m sending them to friends of mine who are amazing moms themselves as well as sending them to others who like me are missing their moms. There’s something empowering about not only conquering this aisle but embracing it to bring light to others.
Sign up for Claire Bidwell Smith and Hope Edelman’s pre-Mother’s Day call. Even if you can’t join live (I can’t), you can opt in and receive access to listen to the call after. Visit here for more info and to sign up before the call tomorrow at 1PM EST.
Join Modern Loss’ Mother’s Day gift exchange. This was such a positive thing for me last year (the gift I received last year is above). They paired those who signed up with another person who experienced a similar loss and we sent our person a little something special to help at this time of year. It’s too late to sign up for this year’s exchange but good to be aware they do this. They do one for Father’s Day as well. If you’re not familiar with them, check them out. Love love Modern Loss.
If you’ve found something else helpful for Mother’s Day, please share in the comments.
Xx.
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