This year I'm amazingly blessed to have both a mother and a grandmother to celebrate on mother's day. My grandmother is 100 years old and living with skilled nursing care. We are awaiting the fateful phone call any day now that she has passed into a better place. But, for now that phone call is still in the future and we want to celebrate every day of her life that we can cherish.
I found a book at a local card store that really made me think about the meaning of mother's day. It had the words "Grandma" on the cover and when you flip through it you find journal pages. Each journal page has a leading question for the entry. Leading quotations/questions included the following: What was your favorite memory of a time with your own mother? Describe your first transportation to school as a child. What kind of Saturday afternoon schedule did you have as a child/teenager?
The book made me want to buy one for all of my relatives as a future gift for their children. How I wish I had such a thing from my own 100-year-old grandma. She is so full of stories and wisdom. One time she told us about how she rode a horse to school when they lived out in the country because they didn't have a car to drive to school. She is not able to write anymore so I couldn't send it to her. Instead, I sent it to my own mother who is now "grandma" in her own right.
The book also made me think about how I would want to be remembered as a mother myself. If my own daughter were to write in such a book for her children what would her favorite memory of a time with me be? What would I want her to remember about her childhood?
This gets me thinking about what is important as a parent. I think the single most important thing I'd like my children to take from their childhood/adolescence is the importance of relationships. There is no greater gift in life than supportive family and friends. And to have these it takes some work. I'd like them to see me value these relationships in my own life and model that their own lives.
I found a book at a local card store that really made me think about the meaning of mother's day. It had the words "Grandma" on the cover and when you flip through it you find journal pages. Each journal page has a leading question for the entry. Leading quotations/questions included the following: What was your favorite memory of a time with your own mother? Describe your first transportation to school as a child. What kind of Saturday afternoon schedule did you have as a child/teenager?
The book made me want to buy one for all of my relatives as a future gift for their children. How I wish I had such a thing from my own 100-year-old grandma. She is so full of stories and wisdom. One time she told us about how she rode a horse to school when they lived out in the country because they didn't have a car to drive to school. She is not able to write anymore so I couldn't send it to her. Instead, I sent it to my own mother who is now "grandma" in her own right.
The book also made me think about how I would want to be remembered as a mother myself. If my own daughter were to write in such a book for her children what would her favorite memory of a time with me be? What would I want her to remember about her childhood?
This gets me thinking about what is important as a parent. I think the single most important thing I'd like my children to take from their childhood/adolescence is the importance of relationships. There is no greater gift in life than supportive family and friends. And to have these it takes some work. I'd like them to see me value these relationships in my own life and model that their own lives.
