Mother's Blushes

Hi everyone. Today I'm here to share the mother love and tell you about my mum, and what it's like to step into those shoes! Don't forget to leave a comment at the end so you can be entered into the Beachwalk Press giveaway :-)

I don't doubt for a minute that I have my mum to thank for encouraging the love of words. It was certainly a shared interest between us, and also my nana. But it wasn't until I had my own children that I could fully appreciate the awesomeness of mum. Not one to openly show her emotion, it's only on reflection that I realize the ways she shows she cares. As a child Lucozade and a blanket was a cure for everything, and all of those times I wanted my mum to agree with my rants, or offer her motherly advice, she was obviously letting me make my own mistakes, because of course teen me would never have listened. She's never told me not to do something, instead steered me in the right direction and has supported me with all I have done. Not least of all with the arrival of her grandchildren. Yes my mum loves me, and thank goodness for that - but really mum, the time I dyed my hair, a little head shake would have been good ;-)

Now I'm a mum and I have three children of my own, two boys age 16 and 14, and a daughter age 6. One of the things my mum still likes to remind me of is the embarrassing diary writing I used to do at school. Me embarrass my mother? How could I? I now know that this does indeed happen. Here are some of my mum blush moments that have stuck with me...

Blush moment Teen 1: First grandchild, so proud grandad decided to make him a cute chair, complete with storage underneath, a swing over table and decorated with the Teletubbies. In reality - it was the size of a throne! Son was so excited to try it he didn't listen to the wet paint warning and sneaked away to try it out. First day of going to school and son was stuck to the chair and needed to be cut out of his new uniform. Most unlikely excuse for being late for school ever. Now has a tendency to walk into pools while texting.

Cute moment: But then when writing a letter to Santa at school, he asked to have no presents, and instead asked if his great-nana and the pet dog could be looked after in heaven.

Blush moment Teen 2: Being shown a huge mother's day display at school with the title 'I Love My Mum Because...' The children's comments were so sweet, I love my mum because she gives the best hugs, makes lovely cakes for me, loves me, buys me special things, has the prettiest smile. Teen 2's offering? I love my mum because she gives me cardboard. All without the explanation that I was supporting his creativity and saved cardboard so he could make his little crafty projects. The teacher had a quiet word with me about that one. In fairness I knew he was showing his appreciation in his quiet reserved way.

Cute moment: Despite being quiet and hiding his emotions, he sang to my pregnant belly every day.

Blush moment 6 year old: Another quiet word from the teacher. Apparently the play tent had to be put into storage because daughter enjoyed going inside to strip naked. And then there's the drawings in her school books, for which there are no words...

Cute moment: Tells me I'm the best mum in the world every day, and gives the best hugs.

The cute moments certainly overshadow the blushes and make every awkward public bathroom, in a lift with strangers, cringe moment completely worth it. And they all love to read! Hey mum, we passed on the good stuff!

That's my mother/children memories shared, I'd love to hear yours! Comment and leave your email and you could win a $20 or a $10 Gift card!!!

Happy Friday and a wonderful Mother's Day to you all.
~ Tracey

Celebrating My Understanding Mom-Olivia Starke

When my mom was expecting, perhaps she dreamed of a cuddly sweet little girl with pigtails and pink frilly dresses who'd take to ballet and other girly pursuits. My mom might've had notions of playing dress up with me, and showing me off to a family who ooed and awed at her precious daughter. After all, I ended up being an only child so I'm sure there were many expectations.

Instead, what she got was a huge tomboy with a perpetually dirty face, and I had no clue what dolls were good for outside of playing fetch with the dogs. I was very much a little boy when I was a little girl. I played with toy trucks, kept pace with my boy cousins, and often brought home pockets filled with creepy crawlies. To be fair, growing up on a farm didn't leave room for a fear of dirt, but I probably loved getting covered in it more than what's reasonable.

My mom received comments from her large and generally narrowed-minded family about my non-gender appropriate behavior--at least as they viewed it. I can recall a few comments by aunts and uncles who had those girly little girls. But my mom ignored them, let me be who I was, and never once tried to force pink or dolls on me. She dressed me in boy's jeans, cowboy boots and shirts, and my Christmas's were always filled with Tonka trucks and Hotwheels.

I am so grateful for being allowed to make my own decisions, even at a young age, and being accepted for who I was. I think this has made me the opened minded and independent person I am now. I love my mom most for this :)

Olivia Starke

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Author Bio:

Olivia Starke calls the Ozarks home. One of the most beautiful areas in the country, she loves hiking trails with her dogs, kayaking on the numerous waterways, and enjoying southern Missouri's fresh air and sunshine.

She's also 'Mom' to four dogs, a growing number of kitties that show up at her door, and four VERY spoiled horses that do little to earn their keep. Not that she'd ever hold that against them.

She's a HUGE fangirl of Doctor Who and to a lesser extent Supernatural, and has a pretty interesting love triangle (or square?) going on in her head between the Doctor and the Winchesters. She’s also sort of completely in love with BBC’s Sherlock--well more precisely, Benedict Cumberbatch.

My amazing mother

One thing I can say about my mum is that she's lived her life to the fullest. I know how lucky I am to have such a close family, and she is everybody's rock. Even know she runs around after her girls, looking after my three nephews every day so that my sisters can work, and honestly I don't know how she does it, but I guess when you've lived your life like hers, resting and relaxing after she'd retired just wasn't an option.
When mum was just fifteen years old, she literally ran away and joined the circus. Okay, she told her parents she was going, but they didn't have much choice in the matter. She travelled through Spain for nearly two years, becoming fluent in Spanish, she travelled some of Europe, and eventually travelled to Africa. When my sisters and I used to look through the photographs and think how exotic it was to have a trapeze artist as a mother she would shake her head and tell us it was actually very hard work. Still, it had it's perks, she even got to adopt a tiny lion cub for a little while.
Mum's adventures didn't end when she met my father. Her days of flinging herself from a trapeze may have been over, but she wasn't satisfied with just settling down and having children, she fostered for many years, well into my childhood. She tells us now that it was the hardest thing she has ever done, and that we shouldn't even consider it, because it's heart breaking. Yet I see the men and women she fostered, as adults, still turning to her for advice, still sending cards every birthday, and I know that she and my dad did a pretty special thing.
So thanks mum, not just for the exciting true stories you told us as children, but for all the lessons and values you taught us. I'm a mother myself now, and if I can do even half as good a job as she did, I think I'll be doing okay.
Emily x x