INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2018

To my darling daughters,

Tomorrow is international women’s day and it seems the perfect time for me to write this note to my beautiful three.

I wish so many things for you.

Words fail me to tell you just how deeply I love you. The deepest part of my being is where my love sits for you all. We still play the game & you tell me that you love me more as you respond to my ‘I love you’. You shout these words as I kiss you goodnight and when I am rushing out of the door or am pulling out of the driveway – each of us wanting to be the last to say it. I relish it now and one day, when you yourselves might be Mothers, you will learn that you loving me more ~ well it simply is not possible. As your Mum, I love you the very most of all.

The time is passing too quickly. I remember vividly the moment I realised you were each growing inside of me.

I was gifted with three amazing daughters. I truly believe you were meant especially for me. I am your teacher and your Mother and yet you have taught me such valuable lessons and it is because of you that I stand tall and say that I love the person I have grown into. I thank you for the gift of being able to say those words. I thank you for the softness you have given me, the unconditional love that I feel and the realigning of my values to what matters most to me in this life.

Since having you, I think often about what the future holds for you. I try not to worry about things that can hurt you but I do. I sometimes think about the boy that will be the first to break your heart. I will be there for you, by your side the whole time ~ even when I would like to leave for just a snippet to hunt him down (oh…he will see it in my eyes). I worry about the parties you may go to and the person you may meet where you will have to stand true, dig deep and be brave for what you know is right. You need to truly believe that ‘no’ & refusal is your absolute right of passage.

With the worry aside, I dream often for what I wish for you. You have amazing futures ahead of you.

DREAM BIG

LEAP

LOVE WITH ALL YOUR BEING

You are all so unique to each other but are all fiercely strong and I know you will continue to grow into being incredibly strong and powerful women. Please always celebrate each other. Please …..please….please do this.

Celebrate all the people that matter most to you always and let them know how highly you hold them. Tell them of the difference they make – often. Surround yourself with people that ‘lift you’. The ones who when you are with them make you love the person that you are. They are the support structures that will keep you in place when you need it. Never underestimate how you can make them feel also. You need to keep this front in your mind. YOU have the power to make & change someone’s day. These people in your kin…..they are the ones that will lift you when you can’t lift yourself.

There will be people in your lives that will try way too hard to knock you down. They will say hurtful things and I sadly see this happening sometimes already in your lives. You cannot understand this yet but this behaviour is really not about you and it has more about what might be going on in their world at that point in time. Don’t cast judgement. You may be surprised to hear I still have to remind myself of this at times. Even now people can say things to hurt so much and that can rock my world on a very big level….if I let it. It takes all my effort to choose ….to not cast judgement. You will debrief ‘big time’ on those closest to you when this happens & this is cool…great & cheap therapy. It is my lesson though 30 years early…….let it go – it’s not about you!  xx

I wish for you to always know how utterly beautiful you are and how proud I am. I see you celebrating life. I see you fighting for what you know is right and I know that particularly at your age, you may not want to stand out but I see you fighting for your cause and when you do, I am right behind you – I am the one fist pumping. You may not always see me but I do hope you can feel me. I have held you when those tears run down your faces because you have been outraged and there you are standing up for what you know to be true & ‘just’. It takes great courage to do this. To ‘stand out’. It is during these moments in particular that my heart feels it may burst.

I hope you read and play more and more as you get older. Please don’t ever underestimate the importance of play, the importance of hanging out with the people that love you the most and the ones that make you laugh so much that your cheeks ache. Sometimes you will laugh so hard that you will wet your pants and snort milkshake out of your nostrils (ahhhh…good times). Don’t worry about it as it is these moments that will become some of your most fabulous memories.

Read. Read a great variety and soak it all in.

Don’t compare your life or yourself to others. You can never truly know their journey or their struggles.

Love your body for the amazing force that it is and for what it will allow you to see things you never thought you would see and it will help you accomplish all that you will in life. Treat your body with respect. I go to the gym or for a run to look after my body and to stay healthy. Please don’t confuse my exercise with me caring too much about what my thighs look like or how my bum looks. I want to be here for a long time. I want to continue to watch you grow into the amazing people that you are. Please don’t let anyone put your body down – especially yourselves. Stand proud and look within. There are a lot of layers under peoples surface.

I want you to follow what makes you happy and what brings you light. I want you to understand that success is not based on income. I have always wanted to model this for you when I made the leap to do what I do today. What I do today fills my heart. I hope you find what fills yours too and that you chase it down.

I hope that you leave no woman behind. I hope as you grow that you understand the importance of being tenacious in accelerating gender parity. I hope you read this letter back as you mature to read this in a different light.

More than anything I wish for, I wish for you to always know how loved you are, how proud you should be of the incredible people that you are with such enormous hearts.

The girl power in our home & our own world is strong but wings need to continue to spread  ~ now more than ever in order to press for progress. #pressforprogress girls. We have the power.

Forever & always….. I love you,

Mama

x