This post contains affiliate links. Please see full disclosure here.
I am the youngest of 3 daughters. Growing up, I lived with one of my sisters, my mom, my step-father, a cat, and around 6 dogs. For the most part, I was a happy kid. Of course, when I look back on my childhood, as an adult, I realize just how screwed up my childhood actually was but I survived, grew, and learned some valuable lessons from my mother.
Throughout my life, my mom and I never had a normal mom and daughter relationship. She did what she had to do to keep me alive until I was old enough to move out and live on my own. Even though she was not your typical mother she was always, without realizing it, teaching me lessons.
5 Lessons I Learned From My Mother
- Never Stop Working– When I was very young my mom was raising 3 girls alone, received very little child support and worked a night job. Fast forward to when I was 5 years old, she remarried and soon became dependent on her newly married husband. It wasn’t until her husband left her that she went back to work and had to relearn how to manage her money. My mom, unknowingly, taught me to never stop working and become completely dependant on someone. As a mom with young kids, I believe that it’s important, if you can, to be home for your kids. After my 2nd child was born, I left my job to be home with my girls but I made sure that while I was home with them that I wasn’t just a ‘mommy’. I built 3 small businesses and did whatever I could to continue to financially contribute to our household while being with my girls. Doing this kept my mind active and made me remember that I was more than a mom.
- Keep it Clean– Growing up, I always remembered that our was clean. My mom did a wonderful job of keeping our house clean and comfortable. Of course, she had a junk room but she made sure to keep the door shut. While I am not the best housecleaner, I make sure to keep my kitchen cleaned, the laundry washed and put away and the house picked up every day. My kids used to always tell me that if I thought our house was messy that I should go to their friend’s houses. I took that as a huge compliment.
- Creativity– My mom was very talented. When she put her mind to it she was an amazing cook, painter, and all around crafter. She instilled the love of creativity in my sisters and me, along with the importance of sharing and expressing our creative side to others. Both of my sisters and I are very creative in unique ways and we make sure to incorporate our creativity in our everyday lives.
- Show Your Kids Love– Sadly, I do not think that my mom was shown love as a child from her mother, with that said, she had a hard time showing love to her kids. It wasn’t fun or heartwarming, as a kid, to think that your mom doesn’t love you, so I’ve made it a point to let my kids know that I love them. Read this amazing book—> The 5 Love Languages of Children.
- Give– My mom was always thinking of others. Oftentimes when she was shopping, if she saw something that was on sale and it was something that she thought a friend, family member or co-worker would enjoy, she would purchase it and gift it to them just because. I love that she did this and I’ve actually followed her lead and have done this for years. I love surprising my friends, family, and co-workers with treats or small trinkets that I think they will enjoy.
No matter how old you are, you can learn lessons every day from the people around you. Even though the relationship I had with my mom was not a typical mother/daughter relationship, I learned a lot from her and for that, I am thankful.
Please pin this for others:
Speak Your Mind