Lisa Dunning, Marriage & Family Therapist
Parent / Child Relationship Specialist

A Mother's Day Moment
by Lisa Dunning, MA, MFT

Being a mother is one of the hardest, but most rewarding jobs there is. Years of tireless love and attention are rewarded with small milestones and a refrigerator covered in art projects. A necklace made from cheerios can bring a tear of joy to a mother's eye. A loving attempt to fix Mom breakfast resulting in a messy kitchen, is not so bad when you know your child did it out of gratitude and love. Mother's Day is the day where mothers can sit back and enjoy the accomplishments they helped create. The day where you get to be the center of attention and do what you want to do. This is the day that can recharge your battery and make you feel like number one again. Mother's Day is your day! My advice to all mothers is to take advantage of it.

Sometimes through our hectic schedules of work, school, doing errands and taking the kids everywhere, we lose sight of why we are doing it all. If you are unhappy, everyone in your house is unhappy! In my private practice I noticed many mothers often did everything for everyone else and forget to care for themselves, resulting in undue stress, anxiety and resentment toward their children and spouse. When this happened, their relationship with their children and spouse often suffered. You owe it to yourself and your family to take care of yourself, which can start on this Mother's Day. Make it your mother's day resolution to care for you.

Some suggestions for taking care of you and reducing stress are:

Before motherhood we often had goals of the person, spouse and mother we wanted to become. Through the course of life it is common to lose site of those goals. Take a moment on this Mother's Day to reflect on all of your accomplishments, asses new goals, and take action to achieve your goals. Make this Mother's Day the first day of the rest of your life! The most important fact to remember on Mother's Day is that no matter what gifts you receive remember, you already received the bet gift you could ever imagine and that is being a Mom!

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