me and my mom ...
Mother’s Day is coming up, and usually my first thought is the same as it’s always been.
Get the card.
Get my mom a gift.
The kids ask what I want.
Where do I want to go eat?
What are we doing?
All of it.
But this year felt a little different. I saw Mother’s Day on the calendar and, instead of thinking about plans, I had this quick, kind of unexpected thought:
Mother’s Day .... that's for me! I'm a mom. I did a decent job with my kids! I got lost in memories for a few minutes and sat in the moment remembering how much I loved the different stages of motherhood.
It was an unexpected reaction to seeing that date on the calendar. Unexpected - but refreshing.
Last year around this time, I posted photos that I had taken on different trips - of moms being moms. Not big moments, but small ones that I happen to observe.
A mom teaching her child how to tie a shoe.
Another one washing, with her little boy mimicking her actions with his own toy.
Just everyday things.
The kind that don’t feel important when they’re happening.
But when you really look at them later…
that’s actually the whole story.
That’s where alot of the beauty of being a mom is.
It got me thinking about my own early years as a mom when I was carrying my kids everywhere, teaching them colors, practicing numbers, reading the same books ovewr and over, tucking them in - and sometimes trying to hold everything together.
And now, looking at my kids as adults…
realizing I didn’t screw it up. I don't think I did ... they are both such cool adults now. And that feels like a win.
So here I am, in my 50s, looking at motherhood and Mother’s Day completely differently than I did when I was in the thick of it.
And what I keep coming back to is this:
I hope women who are in it right now (the busy, messy, chaotic part) I hope they are proud of themselves. Even if they can’t fully see their impact as a mom yet.
I wish this thought would have hit me when I was younger that you don’t have to wait for Mother’s Day for recognition. And more importantly, that we recognize ourselves!
This is where the edit came from.
We’re starting something new with Sapana—
an edit every few weeks, built around a feeling or a thread that ties pieces together.
And this one felt like the right place to start.
The Mother’s Day Edit is made up of pieces that, in some way,
reminded me of motherhood.
Maybe it’s a color.
A texture.
A feeling.
Something familiar.
Something a little worn-in.
Something that holds.
You might look at these and think,
“I should get this for my mom.”
And you absolutely could.
But that’s not really what this is about. This particular edit is about something a little different. It’s about seeing something and thinking, I want that for myself.
Not because you need it.
Not because it’s practical.
But because, for a second, you stop and think:
I’ve done a good job.
I’m doing a good job.
We all buy things throughout the year without thinking twice.
An outfit. An accessory. Something small at the register (spontaneous candy bar purchaser, here!).
But what if, every now and then, the thought behind that purchase was different?
What if we said "This is me treating myself. This is me giving myself a little credit. Recongizing myself."
It doesn’t have to be a coat.
It could be something small.
On a random day. No occasion.
What's important is that you are ackowledging yourself and your accomplishments - even if that's surviving the day. It's about valuing yourself.
Being a mom is a big job.
And most of the time, we aren’t handing out awards for it - even to ourselves.
So maybe this is just a small way to do that.
Our Mother's Day Edit Launches Thursday, April 30th. This one is for you.