{"id":1682,"date":"2015-03-29T17:15:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T06:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/?p=1682"},"modified":"2015-05-04T14:06:36","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T04:06:36","slug":"mothers-day-gift-ideas-more-than-a-mum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/mothers-day-gift-ideas-more-than-a-mum\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than A Mum: The Day I Discovered My Mum Was A Person"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Mother\u2019s Day each year we celebrate the wonder of motherhood, take time to thank our Mums for being awesome and shower them with gifts from the heart and the hip pocket.<\/p>\n

We certainly don\u2019t do it enough. So thank you Mother\u2019s Day for holding us accountable!<\/p>\n

\"Mothers<\/p>\n

The other 364 days a year sons and daughters are, for the most part, a pretty selfish lot. I mean, it took me over 20 years to even realise my Mum was a person. You know, with vulnerabilities, imperfections and \u2026 wait for it \u2026 needs and desires! Absolute madness! The nerve!<\/p>\n

Of course it sounds na\u00efve and egotistical in retrospect, but I honestly had no idea. Mums are sneaky like that. They give, give, give and rarely \u2013 if ever \u2013 take. Until they do and you\u2019re like \u2018Who are you? And what have you done with my mother?\u2019<\/p>\n

When you discover your Mum is a person with an identity beyond that of \u2018mother\u2019, it turns your world completely upside down. Your life changes forever \u2013 all for the better I might add. It catches you off guard though, I\u2019ve got to say.<\/p>\n

The first time I discovered my Mum was a person was about six months after I\u2019d moved out of home for the first time. Our relationship had moved from face-to-face chats to phone chats. We didn\u2019t live in each other\u2019s pockets, but we\u2019d talk every 3-4 days. Well, I\u2019d talk and she\u2019d listen and respond to all the different interesting and important things I had to say.<\/p>\n

\"Mothers<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not even one of those people who does that! I don\u2019t dominate conversations. I don\u2019t talk the ear off my friends without asking them how they are. I don\u2019t move from topic to topic without thought to the other person\u2019s level of interest. In all irony, I wasn\u2019t brought up like that!<\/p>\n

But when talking to my mother I was absolutely that person. Because she was my mother! That was one certainty in my life. She was my mother and she was there when I needed her.<\/p>\n

Until she wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember why she didn\u2019t pick up the phone. But I rang and she didn\u2019t ring back. For two whole days! What kind of mother does that? I rang her again to find out and discovered the most incredible thing \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 I discovered she had a life. Without me in it.<\/p>\n

\"Mothers<\/p>\n

And to find out about it, I had to ask why she hadn\u2019t called, where she was and what on earth could be more important than calling me back?<\/p>\n

I honestly can\u2019t remember where she was or what she was doing, but I do remember having the most wonderful conversation we\u2019d ever had. I discovered how fascinating her life was, how passionate she was and how wonderful it was to hear her talk about my Dad in the same way I was talking about my then partner.<\/p>\n

That was the day my Mum became more than a Mum. She became a woman. And I become a much better daughter.<\/p>\n

Ever since then I have always made sure to consciously ask my Mum \u2013 both my parents \u2013 how they are. Not the throw away \u2018How are you?\u2019 but the one where you dig and dig and dig to find out as much as you can.<\/p>\n

What have you been up to?
\nHow\u2019s Dad?
\nHave you been out walking with your friends?
\nWhat did the doctor say about \u2026 ?
\nAny travel plans?<\/p>\n

Today, I love asking my Mum questions. Unlike with friends, it requires conscious effort. Sometimes I slip into my old ways (because selfless Mums make it so easy) and I have to catch myself.<\/p>\n

One of my favourite things to do is to have a coffee with my Mum. Woman to woman, we can chew the fat for hours and hours.<\/p>\n

A warning to new Mums, there is absolutely no way to rush this. Telling your 5-year-old son that you\u2019re a woman with feelings and he really ought to ask how your day is going is not going to fast-track this process. In fact, telling your 18-year-old son may not achieve much either. Although, that\u2019s probably a good time to start trying!<\/p>\n

Do your kids realise you\u2019re more than just a Mum? When did you first discover your own Mum was also a person?<\/p>\n

Celebrate Mum the woman this Mother\u2019s Day by giving her a thoughtful collage print featuring photos with the kids (that\u2019s a given!), of her passions, with her friends, having fun and just being her, the woman. Make one now<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Mother\u2019s Day each year we celebrate the wonder of motherhood, take time to thank our Mums for being awesome and shower them with gifts from the heart and the hip pocket. We certainly don\u2019t do it enough. So thank you Mother\u2019s Day for holding us accountable! The other 364 days a year sons and … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mothers-day"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1682"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1712,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682\/revisions\/1712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecanvasfactory.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}