International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and today I want to celebrate ALL women: the mothers, grandmothers, the dreamers and the doers, the lovers and the friends!
Today is a day to celebrate all women who make a difference in this world and to remind you that you ALL make a difference. You make an impact on the world just by being here and today I want you to celebrate YOURSELF!
You matter, you count, and you are important!
Take a moment today to celebrate YOU and all that you do in this world, in this life, on this day!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my life experiences is that more often than not, my children were right. They were right when I thought I was right. They were right when I thought they were wrong. They, as my children, could see things that I couldn’t, at least until time showed me just what it was that they could see.
“Through the eyes of a child…”
My children are all grown now yet I can look back and remember times that they had a strong opinion about a situation that I was in or about something I was doing. At the time I thought that they were just children, they couldn’t possibly know what I was going through.
But the truth is, as children they didn’t have to know.
As children they could see through their eyes of innocence.
As children they could feel that something was wrong for their mother.
As children they had a sixth sense, one that as I’ve grown older I wish I’d paid more attention to or listened to.
We often dismiss the opinions of our children simply because they are our children. I’ve learned through time and experience that that isn’t always true.
Sometimes our children see what we, as adults, can’t.
There are days that I wish I had listened to their opinion and feelings, yet if I do that I’d end up living a life of regret but instead just take my accountability that I was wrong.
There were so many times that I should have listened to them.
And for what it’s worth, I’m listening now.
And for those times I hope that they can forgive me.
I try not to regret those times but instead consider them a learning experience, a life lesson, if you will.
There are no perfect mothers or fathers but there are mothers and fathers that try their best.
And that’s what I’ve tried to do.
Sometimes my best wasn’t good enough yet it’s all in the past. As long as I’ve learned from it, that’s the best I can do.
I wish, as adults, we could see life “through the eyes of a child.”
But there’s always hope that we can still learn how.
I wrote a story called “A Letter to My Children,” which can be found in my new book, “Waking Up.” I remember the day I wrote it, and I remember WHY I wrote it.
It was a balmy, summer night and as my kids were floating in and out of the house, and those that didn’t live home had called me, I started to think about all the things they don’t yet know about parenthood…what they don’t know about “motherhood.”
Being a mom has been the greatest role I’ve had in life, and as much I love being a writer, I believe I was born to be a mom. I wasn’t perfect and I know I made some mistakes along the way, yet everything I was as a mother was born out of love.
“And on the day the first of you was born, I was re-born. I was not longer just a married woman; I was born again as a mother. Life changed from that exact moment that you took your first breath, and with that breath, I held mine. I held my breath out of excitement of a new baby placed in my arms, and out of fear to all the responsibilities that were not a part of my life, from that day forward.””
“The love of a mother never dies, not with time, not with distance, not with death; the love of a mother grows stronger with each passing day, with each new milestone you reach and each heartache you encounter. Your mistakes become lessons for us, and with each mistake, together we become stronger and better for it.”
“There is nothing that can or will break or lessen the love a mother has for her children; the heart of a mother is the heart of her child.”
I love my five beautiful children; they’re all unique in their own way, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d like to think I gave them the strength to be who they are and to dream big. I know I made mistakes, yet my children and I learned through both their mistakes and mine. We’re all stronger for it. And isn’t “strength” one of the greatest gift we can give our children?
“There is the proverbial knowing that our children are not here to love us; we are here to love them.”
Anne Dennish - Writer/Author 