This is a sponsored post in partnership with Sincerely Silver.
Do you ever look back at your childhood and realize how amazing your mom was that you never gave her credit for? As I got older, and even before I had Ivy, I was amazed at what my mom was able to get done during the day. She worked full-time and raised three kids. And while my dad was around his work often came with crazy hours, requiring my mom take on the bulk of the weekly work. That’s a schedule I’m learning all to well these days with just one child.
Lately I’ve been thinking about the influence my mom has had on my own journey into the “mom club”. She was such a positive role model growing up, and continues to be now. And as I get farther into my role as a mom, I can only pray that Ivy will feel the same way about me when she raises her own kids.
Selflessness
As a kid, I never realized how much my mom gave up to ensure my siblings and I grew up to be happy, healthy, productive members of society. I also now know firsthand how hard it is for a mom to maintain her own sense of identify and keep up with hobbies while raising a family. We spend so much time making sure our family is taken care of that when the chance to be alone with our own thoughts and activities comes around, we’re often too tired to do anything about it. (That’s one the reasons I don’t post on here as much as I like.) Especially in a child’s early years it’s tough not to have life revolve around their needs.
A Jack-of-All Trades
When one looks up the definition of moms in a dictionary it better say jack-of-all trades somewhere in the description. Moms are doctors, cheerleaders, teachers, chauffeurs, receptionists, chefs and servers, alarm clocks and so much more. Until I became a mom, I never realized the number of hats that come with that title – and with a 2.5 year old I haven’t even had the chance to try some of these on yet. Kudos to mamas doing this with multiple kids like my mom did.
Unconditional Love & Patience
I’d like to think I was the perfect child to raise (ha!); after all, I learned what to do (and not to do) from my two older siblings (being youngest had many perks). I know I contributed to a fair share of any grey hairs my mom has when I tested limits, but never once did I second guess how much love she had for me. I can already relate to this with Ivy, even at 2.5 years old, and I know there’s harder times to come.
Strength & Positivity
Growing up I always knew my mom was a strong woman, but it wasn’t until these past 4+ years that I saw her true strength. I say that because in May of 2015 she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer that spread to her brain. She was determined and fought her way through chemo, multiple rounds and radiation (both on her lung and her brain) and has been cancer-free for 1+ years now. While her life looks quite a bit different than she probably imagined, she’s still extremely positive, strong in her faith and so thankful (as am I).
Because of the impact she’s made in my life, and because cancer is scary (even though she’s doing well), I wanted to have a tangible reminder of her every day. So when I came across these beautiful personalized handwriting necklaces from Sincerely Silver I knew just what that tangible item should be.
The process of working with the Sincerely Silver team was so easy. I had my mom write “Love Mom” on a plain sheet of paper and uploaded the file to their site. Less than two weeks later the necklace arrived at my door and I’ve loved wearing it ever since.
What’s even better is they’re giving Growing Haines readers 15% off their order with the code SINCERELY15. They have quite a few designs to choose from; I chose the handwriting bar necklace in gold, but I also loved the handwriting disc necklace, too.
Do you ever think about how your mom influences your own motherhood journey? Also, isn’t watching her new season as “grandma” the best? I hope if anything, this post inspires you to give your mom a hug and thank her for everything she did, and hopefully continues to do, for you.
This is such a sweet post! It’s hard to really imagine everything our own moms went through until we become one! The emotions involved are just beyond surreal sometimes.
I couldn’t have said that better myself, Hillary! Moms (our own, ourselves and others) are so amazing!
This is so beautiful! I’m sorry your mom has had a difficult journey with cancer. I am so happy to hear she is cancer free. I have learned the same lessons with reference to my mom. I only wish we could have appreciated them more when we were younger-but I guess that is how life goes. My mom suffers from Early Onset Alzheimers. Unfortunately, she can’t write anymore but I would love to find an old card that she gave me and make one of these necklaces. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your kind words, Cynthia! I agree – I wish we could have appreciated all the things they did when we were younger. And great idea on the card! I did something similar for my mom and aunt and uncle when making a pillow that said “love you” in my late grandmother’s handwriting. Hugs to you and your mom in this new season.