My latest book “I Am So The Boss Of You: An 8 Step Guide To Giving Your Family The Business� compares life in the corporate lane to life in the car pool lane, and provides tips on how moms can use corporate structure and rules to rule the household.

But while many concepts are transferrable between home and office, Mother’s Day is an event that is really only celebrated at home, not in the workplace. I don’t think it’s a mistake that it always lands on a Sunday, where it can’t take up precious billable hours between Monday and Friday.  But what if we could re-write the calendar and have Mother’s Day land on a workday? How would we be able to tell it’s Mother’s Day versus any other day in the office? I’ve been thinking about this. 

You know how moms always tell their kids “every day is Kid’s Day�? First of all, that’s crap, or at least it should be, or they truly are the boss of you and you need to rethink a few things. 

But it seems to me that Mother’s Day is pretty much every day in the work world, and not in a good way.  Hear me out.

At home moms are privileged to receive the time honoured traditional offering of burnt toast and cold coffee from our own junior employees, which ostensibly is a “treat� and intended so save mom the trouble of doing this herself. Of course the dichotomy is that more often than not, this causes mom more work in the cleaning of the kitchen’s aftermath, or maybe an extra half hour at the gym after breaking her ‘no carbs’ diet just to keep the smile on her proud child’s face.  

How might this manifest itself at work?  It happens all the time.  A badly written proposal can easily cause more work for the mom-manager as she works to get the employee to rewrite it in the way that will be acceptable. And how about a subordinate, who offers to attend a meeting on her behalf, but then makes inappropriate comments or, worse, commits the department to completing extra projects. 

I’m not suggesting we tell our kids to stop making us a bad breakfast, or that we don’t assign tasks to learning employees. In fact, it’s the reverse. We need to keep doing this so that they can learn from their mistakes and one day graduate to making an entire unburned meal or being 100% responsible for a professionally executed strategic plan.  In this, we are still mothering them every day, all day. So let’s take that second Sunday in May and celebrate Mother’s Day the way it should be celebrated; with other moms, while we assign our employees to eat the toast themselves.

Kathy Buckworth’s latest book “I Am So The Boss Of You: An 8 Step Guide To Giving Your Family “The Business� is available at bookstores everywhere. Visit www.kathybuckworth.com or follow Kathy on Twitter @KathyBuckworth.

(c) Kathy Buckworth 2013

There is so much emphasis on the second Sunday in May, it’s no wonder most of the time it ends up in disappointment and dissatisfaction. Sort of like cramming a year’s worth of love into Valentine’s Day.  But just like the opponents of Valentine’s Day claim that you should be making your feelings known year round instead of just on February 14th, I think we need to start thinking about Moms all year round too.  Just think kids: Every day can be Mother’s Day!

But putting that responsibility on the people we mother, or the people whose children we mother, is probably only going to lead to more disappointment and frustration. That’s why this year I plan to Re-Matriate* Mother’s Day and make it my own…and make it last for 365 days.

There’s an old joke about a man who complains that his wife doesn’t do anything all day. One day he comes home to find his normally clean house in complete disarray, the kids are unusually messy, unclothed and unfed, and there’s nothing on or in the oven cooking for dinner.  He says “What happened here today?� And she responds with “The nothing I do all day? I didn’t do it today.�

So I say every day of the year we find a little way to not do the things we normally do, and not just on Mother’s Day.  Things like:

• Stop picking up the dirty socks of anyone over the age of six, found mostly under the couch. Just stop. The owner of the socks will eventually run out and have to go looking for them. You can simply point them in the right direction, should their sense of smell not be fully developed. Or, send them to the store to buy some new ones. Not your problem.

• Refrain from being the person who puts out toilet paper for everyone else to use.  Don’t do it. Keep a stash in a bag you take into the bathroom with you every time you go, and see who/if/when the toilet roll gets refilled by anybody else. (Note: Sniff towels periodically – or maybe pay a toddler to do it for you)

• Stop buying beer for “the house� if you (and your friends) don’t drink beer. Does anyone else in the house take care of your tampon supply? It should be noted that this can be a risky manoeuver, however, as in desperate times (i.e. sports playoffs of any kind) , your chardonnay stash may begin to mysteriously deplete. Also, check the vanilla.

• If you are folding anyone else’s clothes, making anyone else’s bed or putting away anyone else’s towels…desist immediately. Don’t most of those people look like they rolled out of an unmade bed and threw on clothes they found on the ground anyway?  And those towels? Just remember the toilet paper tip.

We seem to see Mother’s Day as a time to “take off� from doing these domestic duties, when the fact of the matter is, we can reward ourselves by doing a little bit of nothing, every day. Join me, won’t you?

*No, the word rematriate doesn’t exist. But it should. Am I’m taking that on.

Read Funny Mummy every month.  Follow Kathy on Twitter @KathyBuckworth and visit www.kathybuckworth.com. Kathy’s 6th book “I Am So The Boss Of You� will be published by McClelland Books in Spring, 2013. 

(c) Kathy Buckworth 2012

Who remembers the game Mother May I?  By simply asking this polite little question, the “Mother� of the game would allow her “children� to take baby steps, giant steps, even sideways steps in an attempt to get to the front of the room and win the opportunity to be Mom.

But is being Mom really “winning�?  Even in the Charlie Sheen sense of the word? And what’s better? Having Tiger Blood or being a Tiger Mom who controls every step her babies take? It’s hard to know  whether or not to let our kids take steps big or little or even those ones that careen off sideways or diagonally (“No, sweetie, I don’t think building a own bike ramp out of Dad’s snowboard was a good idea.�).  Sometimes we just have to let them think they’re moving upwards and onwards, while we continue to protect their interests and still forming skulls.  Here’s a handy guide I put together which might help you sort through the May-I-Maybe-Maybe Not decisions, which will make them think they’re going one step forward, instead of two steps back:

• May I just eat dessert? Of course! Oh, you mean today?  No. But when you’re an adult and every spoonful of pudding goes straight to your thighs, as long as you have your stretchy pants on , go ahead!
• May I not wear a helmet? Absolutely! But wait are you going to ride your bike? Then yes. I thought you meant in order to get past your tantruming brother in the front hallway. He’s only three feet tall so his fists can’t reach your head. You’re good there.
• May I wear this to school? Why not? Oh shoot. I just remembered. We forgot to send your enrolment into the Royal Academy for Stains and Crud so that uniform just isn’t going to work at regular school I’m afraid.
• May I punch my brother? I would! In fact, I often did.  Have I ever shown you the cute scar he gave me on “Now I’m Bigger Than My Sister Day�?
• May I borrow your smartphone? Here you go.  I’ll just kill time on your Facebook page here. That I have access to.  Always have. Always will. What, done already?
• May I stay up late? Yes. In fact, let’s all stay up late. It’s about time we figured out trigonometry as a family.  Honey, you get the slide rules and I’ll get the timer.
• May I get down from the dinner table? You can not only get down from it, you can take all the dishes with you. They want to “get down� with the dishwasher.
• May I skip visiting Granny? Not a chance. We’re all in this one together. (I can only go so far with these.)

Kathy Buckworth’s latest book Shut Up and Eat: Tales of Chicken, Children and Chardonnay is available at bookstores everywhere. You may buy it. You may also follow Kathy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kathybuckworth and you may also visit her at www.kathybuckworth.com

(c) Kathy Buckworth 2011

When I think of number  5, the first thing that comes to my mind is the 5 senses.. they are a very important aspect of our daily lives and directly affect us in many ways.

The 5 senses are touch, taste, smell, sight and sound.

Do you like popcorn?  What better food to use for your investigation into the 5 senses. Make some popcorn with your family and then ask yourselves the following questions…

1. What sound does it make when it cooks, and when you eat it (sound)?
2. What colour is it before and what colour is it after (sight)?
3. How does the popped corn feel (touch)?
4. How does it taste (taste)?
5. How does it smell (smell)?

There are other foods that can be investigated using all five senses, for example: celery, chewing gum, apples, potato chips, ice cubes and most breakfast cereals.

Take the time to explain to your children that there are many people out there that do not have the ability to experience all 5 senses. People that are blind are not able to see.  They rely heavily on their other four senses to help them out.

Take a few food items and place them on a plate. Loosely blind fold your taste tester and allow them to use their other four senses to guess the food items. Good items to use are…broccoli, cheese, chocolate chips, peanut butter (unless you have a child with a nut allergy), olives, pickles, pizza, tuna, bananas, raspberries and lemon.

The month of May is named after the Greek goddess Maia.  In her honour, I have included a traditional Greek cookie recipe that is sure to be enjoyed by adults and kids alike.

A kouloura (koo-LOU-rah) is the Greek word describing a round twist. Koulourakia are traditional butter cookies with a name that derived from their circular twisted shape.  These cookies are found in all Greek bakeries where they are also shaped into small braids or the letter “S�.  Koulourakia are delicious dunked in milk, tea or coffee and are considered the traditional Easter cookie.

Ingredients:
2 cups buttered, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup milk (or ouzo – optional)
2 additional eggs for brushing the tops of the cookies
Sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a food processor, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the vanilla extract and ouzo and mix well. While the processor is running, add the eggs one by one and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture little by little.
5. The dough will be soft and pliable but it should not be sticky. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour.
6. Place dough in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes, to allow the dough to firm before rolling it into shapes.
7. To shape the cookies, pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a walnut. Roll out a thin tube of dough about the length of a dinner knife. Fold in half then twist two times. You can also make a coiled circle or an “S� shape.
8. Beat the remaining two eggs in a bowl and add a splash of water to the egg. Brush the cookies lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
9. Bake cookies on parchment paper or on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until they are nicely golden brown.

A similar recipe can be found at http://greekfood.about.com/od/cookiescakes/r/Koulourakia-Greek-Butter-Cookies-With-Sesame.htm.

Lastly, but equally as important as the 5 senses and baking cookies… May 8th is Mother’s day!

Here are some great ways to show a mom (or specifically, your mom)  how much she means to you:

• A homemade card is always a great way to bring a smile to a mom’s face!
• Surprise your mom with her favourite breakfast in bed, don’t forget to ask for an adult’s assistance
• Take your favourite photo of you and your mom and place it in a frame that you have decorated.
• Make your mom a colourful bookmark or paint her a picture.
• Show your mom how much you appreciate everything she does for you by helping out, you can make your bed, clean your room or set the table.
• Nothing says “I love you� more than a bag or box of her favourite Candies!  (mine just happens to be Jube Jubes!)

A poem for mom’s everywhere:

Mothers are the people that always try to be there,
To hold a hand or with a reassuring smile to share,
They provide warmth and support wherever they can,
They know what to do and always have a good plan,
They are always needed, throughout our lives,
No matter our age, we consider their words wise.
We thank our Moms for all that they do,
And hope that their wishes and dreams all come true.

Shelley Sefton is a chef, recipe developer & creator of “Yummy in my Tummy� - classes for kids that  offers them the opportunity to  experience exciting adventures in the kitchen – combining education, art,  food and most important of all FUN! Contact: (905) 597-0672 or sdsefton@rogers.com.  

 

Everywhere you turn in May you find wonderful Mother’s Day ideas to treat this extraordinary lady in your life.  From restaurant brunch specials to fancy (and expensive!) flower bouquets to chi-chi spa treatments.  All of these are wonderful and thoughtful gifts you can give your mother or request if you are the mother in question but this year I am taking a pass!  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a nice meal out, a bouquet of fragrant roses and a hot stone massage just like any sane woman but this year I want something different for my mother’s day.  I want nothing.  And I want to enjoy that nothing on my own!  I love my kids and husband to the end of the earth and back again but sometimes a mom just needs to recharge her batteries and she can’t do that at a Denny’s with a rose corsage!  So on May 9th I am asking dear hubby to take the kids out for breakfast and a long, long play at the park while I enjoy not one but two cups of Maple Cinnamon Coffee in peace and quiet.  I’ll spread out the morning paper and read the sections I want to without interruption and then indulge in a couple of Spinach & Ricotta Hotcakes with Honey Ham (extra Crème Fraiche please.).   After that I’ll unlock the door, turn the phone back on and welcome my little family home with open arms, a renewed spirit and satisfied tummy!  Happy Mother’s Day.

MAPLE CINNAMON COFFEE
Makes 8 cups
Preparation 10 minutes
Notes:  This coffee is an excellent way to start your morning off.  The syrup and whipped cream are the perfect exchange for your usual milk and sugar!

Ingredients:
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• 4 heaping tablespoons good quality coffee
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 cups (2L) cold water
• 1 cup whipped cream - optional

1. Pour the maple syrup into the bottom of a coffee pot.
2. Place coffee in filter and sprinkle cinnamon on top of grounds.
3. Brew coffee.  Stir brewed coffee with wooden spoon ensuring maple syrup is dissolved.
4. Pour coffee into mugs or cups and top with whipped cream if desired.

SPINACH & RICOTTA HOTCAKES WITH HONEY HAM
Serves 4 
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 10 minutes
Notes:  These hotcakes are hearty enough for brunch, lunch or dinner.  Simply serve a green salad on the side.  You could also substitute smoked salmon for the honey ham.

Ingredients:
• 100g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 egg yolks
• 250ml buttermilk
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 50g fresh baby spinach, chopped and wilted
• 2 tbsp chives, chopped
• 125g ricotta
• Olive oil
• 50g honey ham, thinly sliced
• Crème fraiche to serve

1. Sift the flour and the baking powder into a bowl.  Stir in the egg yolks and buttermilk until combined.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in the chives and ricotta
2. Heat a medium non-stick pan over medium heat.  Add a splash of olive oil and spoon in batter to make 3 small hotcakes about 12cm in diameter.  Cook for 2 minutes or until bubbles appear on surface; flip continuing to cook for a further 1 minute.  Set aside in a warm place and continue with remaining batter.
3. To serve, top hotcakes with sliced ham and crème fraiche.
   
Nadine Hughes is the creator and owner of, The Cook’s Companion and The Menu Companion, through which she offers kitchen consultations, menu planning services as well as private cooking classes for adults and teens throughout Southern Ontario. She is also an award winning author.  Pick up a copy of her latest cookbook “The Groove Mamma Goes Gourmet – Easy Ways To Put The Fun Back Into Entertaining� (awarded Best Canadian Entertaining Cookbook at the 2009 Gourmand Cookbook Awards) for $7.98 at www.groovemamma.com

©Nadine Hughes 2010

Mother’s Day presents the perfect opportunity to show the women in your life how much you appreciate everything they are, and everything they do. We are delighted to bring you lovely gift ideas early, to avoid a last-minute rush. Mother’s Day is May 9.

Mother’s Memories That Can Last a Lifetime
 
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Drop In to Tija Ceramics Studio any Sunday in April and make mom something special to last forever. Whether it be a vase with your hand prints, a mug with a special message or a picture frame with your moments, we can help make a lasting impression.
 
Contact: 1-888-909-TIJA
or www.tijaceramicstudio.com/burlington.

 
Sentimental Gifts for Mom’s Day!
 
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Perfectly charming gift ideas for the Moms, (and Grandmas!) on your list! Charming Mommy features personalized sterling silver jewellery for every family member.  What better way to say “I love you” on Mother’s Day! Enter Code MOM10 for 10% off.
 
Contact: www.CharmingMommy.com.

 
Bring Mom to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for FREE on Mother’s Day weekend!
 
Sponsored Listing
Purchase a ticket to Kiss Me, Kate on May 8 and/or 10 and receive a free adult ticket for Mom for that performance! Call our box office at 1-800-567-1600 and quote 32147 to save! For show details and information on our incredible season featuring 12 stunning productions, visit www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com.

Contact: 1-800-567-1600,
www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com.

 
Affordable, flexible live-in nannies available
 
Sponsored Listing:
De-stress your family life and consider a nanny for your family! Nannies provide quality childcare, light housekeeping & help with dinner. Nannies give you the flexibility to have some time for yourself. International Nannies & Homecare Ltd. has been placing nannies since 1996. Founder is a former overseas nanny with lots of knowledge in the industry.

Contact: 1.800.820.8308 or www.internationalnannies.com.

 
Glow Baby - Gifts for moms and moms-to-be
 
Sponsored Listing:
Glow Baby is dedicated to creating beautiful organizational tools for today’s busy parents at all stages of parenthood.  Award winning “Baby’s First Journal” and “Baby’s First Foods” are thoughtful gifts for moms-to-be or moms of newborns.  Glow Baby Notepads will help keep any mom organized!
 
Contact: www.glowbaby.ca, 416-519-3844
or info@glowbaby.ca.
 
 
Shut Up and Eat: Tales of Chicken, Children and Chardonnay
 
Sponsored Listing:
A no-holds-barred look at that most fraught of family institutions: mealtime! Experts claim that eating meals as a family prevents children from getting into trouble while simultaneously creating close-knit families - that is a lot to ask meatloaf!  This is a must-read book for any woman who’s ever wondered: What the hell am I cooking tonight?

Contact: www.chapters.indigo.ca.

 
The Groove Mamma Goes Gourmet
 
Sponsored Listing:
Written by Nadine Hughes, “The Groove Mamma Goes Gourmet - Easy Ways To Put The Fun Back Into Entertaining”, is part party planning, part menu and recipe planning, and part life coaching book all in one. Available for $7.99 at www.groovemamma.com.

Contact: www.groovemamma.com.

 
Give Mom a Hand with the NEW Slingsax Shoulder Shopper
 
Sponsored Listing:
Our new Slingsax hands-free shoulder shopping bag ($14) is lightweight, waterproof and folds down to 3 x 2. Adjustable straps, a roomy front pocket plus its made of recycled plastic bottles! Save 20% on any order through April 22*. Use code KIDSCANADA.
 
Contact: www.lavishandlime.com,
customerservice@lavishandlime.com, 604.922.2220
or toll free 1.877.216.LIME (5463) * Cannot be combined with another offer.  

 
The Babytime Show, International Centre

Sponsored Listing:
Visit the Babytime Show from April 30 to May 2, 2010, to shop, learn and have fun all within one place celebrating parenthood. Discover new and interesting parenting products, the latest gear, maternity clothing, parenting tools, places to go and services, expert led workshops and entertainment for toddlers. Click for a $2 admission coupon.

Contact: www.babytimeshows.ca.   

Happy Mother’s Day to all the expectant mothers, mothers and grandmothers today (and everyday). You inspire us and we are celebrating you!

Visit our Events Calendar at www.kidsaroundcanada.com/events for lots of ways to celebrate together with your family.

Most Moms know (or at least figure out eventually) that Mother’s Day is actually not about them, but about the kids.  My Mother’s Day went something like this:  The kids made their lovely heartfelt handmade cards, (I’m trying really hard not to notice that the picture they drew of me includes a blonde moustache and a massive ass), and then presented me with a teacher-written “Cuz I’m small� poem.  They had tucked these treasures on a tray, burned some toast with Daddy’s help, and slopped orange juice all the way up my newly carpeted stairs (“winter white� – what was I thinking?).  They shook me awake (totally unnecessary as the youngest had already tripped on my discarded clothes and head butted me in the stomach), dumped the whole thing on my bed and announced “Happy Mother’s Day!�  Which was quickly followed by “Eat the toast eat the toast eat the toast�, and “my present’s the best right?  Right? Right?  He’s hitting me!  You’re going to die you little booger.�…and then it really started to degenerate.

I love my kids.  I love that they love Mother’s Day.  But they just don’t get it sometimes.  My perfect Mother’s Day would involve me, my bed, maybe a coffee, and my beloved BlackBerry, Seamus.  Call me a mean old cynic if you want to, but isn’t this day supposed to be all about us?  Mostly, I want to forget just for a few lovely hours, that I am defined as being a mother.

I’ve told my husband for years not to buy me anything for Mother’s Day – from him, via the kids, or any combination thereof.  I’m not his Mother, and I find it kind of creepy.  I once had a male friend justify it by saying “But she’s the mother of my children.�  Oh really. They’re now divorced.  I wonder if he still buys the present – she’s still the mother of his children after all.

Which leads me to think about why Seamus is a more welcome guest in my bedroom on Mother’s Day morning than my other children:

• The aforementioned juice spilling and requisite burnt-toast eating is eliminated.
• It’s quiet.  It buzzes.  I tap.  It’s quiet.
• It’s not sticky.  Usually.
• It provides me with adult conversation instead of forcing me to pull apart two warring pre-schoolers while sitting in a bed, trapped by a tippy, sloppy tray.  “I love you both goddamit. Now go and see your father!�
• It doesn’t ask “Is Mother’s Day over now?�, “Why isn’t there a BlackBerry day?�, “Can you help Dad start the dishwasher?�, and “What can we do while Dad is working on the computer�?

And most of all, there’s no clean-up required – emotionally or physically.

Excerpted from Kathy Buckworth’s new book “The BlackBerry Diaries: Adventures In Modern Motherhood� (Key Porter, April, 2009), available at bookstores everywhere.  Visit www.kathybuckworth.com and read Funny Mummy every month.

©Kathy Buckworth 2009

WRITTEN BY
Julie Cole

Mother’s Day is the one day every year that we are all expected to take a few moments to appreciate the fine women who keep this world turning. Besides patting myself on the back, I’m one of the lucky mamas who can thank my own mother - whose positive attributes are too many to attempt listing. Have the rest of you noticed that once you have your own children, you learn to treasure your mother’s new role as the mama’s mother?

My mother morphed from being an exceptional mother into an exceptional grandmother of eleven. In my case, I scored the mom trifecta – she lives locally, has retired from the working world, and is genuinely invested in the lives of her grandchildren. Don’t get me wrong, she has a life of her own but these 11 little people take up some prime real estate in her heart. As the saying goes, your grandchildren are your reward for not killing your own children. And my mom enjoys this role to its fullest.

As I’ve met more and more mamas in my life, as a mom entrepreneur, mama blogger, mama of many, etc, I have also become increasingly fascinated by my peers who are raising their children without the support of their own mothers. One question always nags me: how do these motherless mamas do it? 

There are three kinds of motherless mamas that I encountered when I posed the question:

1) Those whose mothers are geographically far away. I can relate to this one. I had my first three children halfway around the world and can distinctly remember what it was like to have three children under the age of three, while going through an autism diagnosis with the eldest. These are not remembered as my best days and certainly having my mom around would have helped. But, I did have her with me emotionally by way of phone calls every day discussing my son’s development and diagnosis. With this support, I didn’t actually feel isolated from her.

2) Those whose mothers are emotionally unavailable. I hear about this one occasionally – the mama whose own mother didn’t do a good job of getting it right. The result is a new mama trying to make her way through the journey of motherhood without having had a role model or given any amount of motherly support. Some women described having emotionally uninvolved or distant mothers more difficult than if their mothers were not actually alive. Complete absence would be easier than disinterest.

3) Those whose mothers who have passed away without ever having met their grandchildren. Speaking to mamas in this situation was the closest thing to emotional torture imaginable.

For those whose mothers have passed away, there are some very practical reasons to miss having their own moms around. Grandmothers are generally competent, helpful and can be implicitly trusted. There is no greater feeling than dropping children off at Grandma’s house and knowing you don’t have to give them a second thought – they are with the one person that you trust has a vested interest and love for them. And who else can you share endless amounts of boring information about your children with, if not your own mother? Regardless of how trivial the details, grandmothers listen intently. They savour the kind of details that are so mundane it would be too embarrassing to share them with even your best friend.

I also heard stories of some of the less obvious reasons motherless mamas can feel alone in their own mothering.

It had never occurred to me that their own baby and childhood histories seem to be lost or forgotten with the death of their mothers. There is no one around to say “your baby looks just like you at that age� or “she crawls in that funny way you did�. Sure, Grandpa may still be around but how much does he remember of your infancy? Those were the days when moms took full responsibility and dads didn’t have much time for babies. And so, details and history can be lost forever.

Some mamas reported that their widowed fathers were in so much pain over the loss of their wives that speaking her name was too painful. Her name also became taboo sometimes if dad re-married and new wife was uncomfortable speaking of the past. But where does this leave the motherless mama? She is left without a present day connection to her mother and is muted to ask questions.

It seems there are a lot of parents who are unjustly ripped off by the early death of a would-be-grandmother. I can only imagine what it would be like to be at the park or zoo and to witness active grandparents beaming as they enjoy the day with their grandchildren. Undoubtedly, one would look sadly at her own children, disappointed that they are deprived of what is an obviously special relationship. And what about those times when a new mother wants to turn to an elder for some parenting advice? Not having your mother to call upon with those everyday questions makes the life of a mama even more challenging.

This Mother’s Day I am going to spend less time thinking about the praise I should be getting for the job I do. Instead, I’m going to be especially thankful for my mother and I’m going to quietly celebrate the work of the motherless mamas out there. I truly do not know how you do it.

*Julie Cole is a co-founder of Mabel’s Labels Inc. (www.mabel.ca) and the proud mother of six.

©Julie Cole 2009