by Jessika Hepburn, Editor
Does Mother’s Day leave you feeling kind of deflated? After the cards have been praised, chocolate eaten & the flowers put in water, do you ever feel just a little bit let down?
I do & I think I know why.
And it’s not because you are ungrateful, or that you feel unloved or unappreciated (even if maybe you do) and you might have even had an absolutely brilliant day & gotten everything you asked for. Now you are wondering why you feel sort of lacking. My theory? You’re (and by you I mean myself too!) not doing the hard work of celebrating yourself all year.
Waiting on someone else to appreciate you, regardless of the occasion, can be a recipe for disappointment. We bundle up our hopes and wishes, wanting a perfect day, or for someone else to make us feel special. We wait for these one or two days a year, birthdays and holidays, to be validated for how hard we work and how far we’ve come. And having those days is awesome. I love gifting my mother with things I have made & I’m all for any day that lets me sleep in and have coffee in bed! But it’s always over too fast and sometimes feels rushed, like racing to pack too much into one day.
And what about the rest of the year? How much time do we spend celebrating ourselves for the other 300 plus days that we juggle all our responsibilities? If you can’t recall the last time you did something just for you, that made you feel beautiful & brilliant, then this is my gift to you. From one mama to another, to remind you that you deserve and need to honor yourself & celebrate your own motherhood.
I had fun making a pretty spread of self-love gift ideas, some big and some small, all lovely. Buying ourselves small gifts that we will adore and feel special when we use or look at them is not only good for the soul but incentive to work harder! Just because you work for yourself doesn’t mean you don’t need a little bonus now and then.
Are you constitutionally incapable of being kind to yourself? I’ve got you covered:
“When I have those guilty voices come in telling me that this pampering is all a bit much, I imagine a beloved friend of mine doing this for herself. And in that moment I see how wonderful it is, how she deserves to be cared for and nourished, just for being herself. I look at myself as if I were my own dear friend. Sometimes it’s easier to see how much we all deserve love when we look through another lens.” via Roots of She
1.Watercolor Petals dinnerware from Anthropologie 2.Love bunting coffee mug by vesselsandwares 3. The Instant Comfort Pocket Box by kimslittlemonsters 4.Lollia Flowering Willow & Lotus bath salts from Layla Grace 5. Yellow flower hair pins by Louloubell 6. Peace collection pearl cluster charm bracelet by Poppy Sparkles 7. Coral kiss ring by Blush Envy 8.Turquoise & caicos Essie nail polish 9. Pink rose & gold earrings by toosis 10. Sequin & ruffle skinny clutch by elliven 11. Hand-knit rococo shawl by Elena Rosenberg
You don’t always have to buy something to be kind to yourself either, there are so many things you can make from jewelry to bath salts + we’ll have a special tutorial this week. So don’t let lack of money keep you from being nice to the most important person in your life-YOU!
How do you celebrate yourself? Let’s all promise to give ourselves a small gift EVERY month. Share the lovelies or self-love tutorials that would make you feel wonderful in the comments below, I hope you make your own wishes come true.
So true. Glad to know I’m not the only mama feeling down today. We all deserve to be appreciated, even if only by ourselves.
Excellent post! I think that you should celebrate yourself and be celebrated more than once a year.
Thank you for this!
My husband is at work tonight and I ordered Indian! That is my treat to myself today for Mothers Day.
xo
Big mama hugs to you Amanda, I think if we are honest with ourselves many of us feel a little underwhelmed after Mother’s Day. I hope you make up for it by doing something special for yourself!
@Shelley, thanks! I totally agree: )
@Erica, feel free to come over & have dinner with me;) If only! That would be fun-I hope you have a lovely party for one<3
You speak such wise words, Jessika. Taking time to care for yourself, whether through ‘me time’, pampering or a gift to yourself is so important. A happy mama is a happy family.
Thank you for including my bracelet in your lovely selection – feel very honoured to be nestled in amongst such beautiful pieces.
Viv 🙂
And it looks lovely there! I hope everyone goes and checks out your shop: ) A happy mama is a a happy family is something I remind myself of ALL the time-it’s so true!
Self love, including kindness and compassion toward myself, is so important – this is one of my resolutions for 2011. I love the idea of charm bracelets to celebrate life, love, and family, but they are so expensive to purchase. Any ideas on making one or how to acquire inexpensively would be much appreciated!
That’s a great resolution Mona! Making a bracelet can often be more expensive then buying one if you don’t have some of the basic tools & materials on hand. Do a search for charm bracelet tutorials, check out Viv’s sweet shop http://www.poppysparkles.co.uk/ or shop around for one that fits your budget on Etsy. I also like to keep an eye out at vintage & thrift shops for things to inspire me. Good luck: )
That’s so true! We wait for our husband or kids to celebrate mother’s day and be nice with us but what are we doing for ourselves?
I love the selection you are presenting today with flowers and yellow+pink colors!!!
Thanks Marie! It can be a lot of pressure on them too & then they can feel bad for not making it a perfect day. Better to celebrate ourselves & each other more often, just because!
This gift guide is lovely, Jess! I can’t even pick a favorite because I want many of these things. I am going to:
(1) Make time to sit and read magazines (I love doing this but am suddenly over a month behind!)
(2) Paint my nails! I don’t love having other people touch my nails but I love having them painted so I’m going to find time monthly to DIY.
Yay Zoe!!! I am right there with you! A pretty magazine + coffee while nails dry sounds like a sweet break once a week-I love the thought of you taking that time for yourself. Let’s check in & see if we’re following up on taking care of ourselves<3 Have you seen these? http://www.flickr.com/photos/geninne/5584113020/in/photostream
Jessika, you practically have me in tears…how’d you know??? I want a do-over!!! …embarrassed to admit, i’d like a mother’s day ALL ALONE ( there, i’ve said it!) i adore a trip to the movies, alone…i suspect i am over due.
Sweetie! You need to do it-take that time for yourself, your daughter will thank you for it. That’s not embarrassing at ALL, I love any days alone so much or even just a few hours. I hope you plan a do-over day & celebrate your mamahood all alone. Get dressed up & take yourself out to the movies (& maybe out dancing too?). Be sure to let me know if you do & how it made you feel: )
I think the part that really brings me down about it is that I feel like I’m sharing a day that should be about my relationship with my children with in-laws and their family, as well as my family. It feels like it gets turned into another commercial holiday like Christmas and Thanksgiving. I feel like that’s o.k. some years but it feels like every year it’s an expectation that we get together with our mothers too…
Not that I don’t appreciate our mothers and what they do (have done) but I feel like they had their moment and it’s time to let go a little on occasion. I feel like when we get together with them the focus is completely on them and completely taken away from the fact that I and my sister in laws and our cousins are too mothers. It’s always more focused on our mothers (mothers in laws) and grandmothers.
That’s fine some years… it just would be nice to feel like the one time a year we get a little spot light ourselves. I feel like we really don’t get any…at all.
Hi Brooke-thank you for your comment! It sounds like you and your sister-in-laws & cousins need to plan a day that is just for you. Maybe you could start a tradition of having a group brunch the Saturday before Mother’s Day and then saving that actual Sunday for your own family celebration?
This is so so true, and that quote is amazing, I love it. I went out shopping for myself last week, bought a few new articles of clothing and shoes and was absolutely amazed by how fabulous I felt afterwards! Even raised my confidence! I’m usually so reluctant to buy anything for myself. Jessika, thank you for yet another amazing post and many thanks for including my clutch!
Everyone loves to be appreciated. You can tell yourself I love You in front of the mirror. Believe me, it helps 🙂