#momspiration
Mother's Day is just a few days away and to celebrate I asked some of the strong, amazing women in my life and at the studio to answer two questions.
1-What's you motto for being a good role model for your children?
2- What's your inspiration?
I was not prepared for how touching their responses would be. Their words truly filled my soul with love and have inspired me to carry on a lot of what they said for when I have children.
Two things that my mother taught me that have helped shape who I am today.
1- You can be WHOEVER you want to be and do WHATEVER you want to do.
2- Don't ever follow a man, be your own woman. Be kind, be strong, be independent, be educated.
Featured below are the beautiful responses to the answers above.
Pascha Apter: CEO of Giant Voices http://giantvoices.com
The most important message I am trying to instill in my children right now is to: Choose Happiness. I believe we have the power to choose our mood and we shouldn’t give that power up to anyone else.
Life is hard and it certainly isn’t fair. You can choose to be sad, angry or disappointed or you can choose to be happy. I choose happiness!
Melinda Marble: Rock Star Mom of 6
My motto is: "All you need is love". The love I have for my family is all it takes to keep me doing everything I possibly can to make their lives better. The love I show to my kids keeps them confident and eager to try hard. They know without a doubt they always have someone in their corner. I hope they find great comfort in that. With love as the basis we moms can do anything.
My inspiration is my own mother who did so much for my siblings and I in a time when modern conveniences were far fewer than they are today. And she never complained. Ever. I lost her last year and miss her so.
Heidi Lindberg: Rock Star Mom
A favorite motto/quote of mine is "Children will learn more from who you are than what you teach." In my path of developing who I am as a woman and now as a young mother there is no better inspiration than those two little girls I have! I also look to my peers, strong confident women, many I have met through my yoga practice and our pre-schools.
Kelly Johnson: Neurologist, Pediatric Neurology
My motto as a mom is to try to live in the present. Teach a healthy lifestyle by living one. Laugh instead of getting angry, it makes you feel so much better
My inspiration is that life can be to short. I learned at a young age as my mom was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 36 and passed away at 45 yrs old. I try to live a healthy life style, enjoy everyday, and not have any regrets. I have been blessed with a supportive and loving husband and 3 wonderful children. Life is good!
Amity Driscoll: Office Manager
For me, being a good role model for my daughter means leading by example. I want to show her she can dream as big as she can imagine and accomplish anything she puts her mind to.
I may teach her how to play a sport, do her math homework or another activity for the first time, but she is the one showing me how to actually live life without fear. She is my biggest inspiration.
Nicole Fleming: Psychologist
My motto is simple. It's the golden rule. One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself. This is how one teaches empathy. This is what I do all day long as a psychologist and it is such a basic concept that we can easily get away from. More importantly, as my child grows, I will want him to treat himself as he would treat others. Being that we often are way harder on ourselves with negative judgment, then we would ever be to anyone else.
My inspiration is my own mother! She worked for 30 + years in the social services and she did her job with kindness (even as a probation officer). Her clients respected her even though she may of had to make some tough choices to better them and protect others. She never let the stress of her job impact her as a mother or wife. She always had a smile on her face and she radiated positive, loving energy. As I've grown up, she has become my best friend and I can always rely on her. When I went through chemo for breast cancer, I would call her sometimes in utter fear, and I would ask, mom "Am I going to be okay?" and she would always say "Absolutely!" Her strength got me through one of the toughest moments in my life. I will try to do the same for my son as he grows!
Sue Swor: Buyer for Maurices
I do have a quote that I keep close by at all times.
"Doubt kills more dreams than fear ever will". I reflect on this personally and professionally very often.
One thing I talk about with my girls all the time is to NEVER let the fear of failure get in the way of your future! And always surround yourself with loving, encouraging, and inspirational people, let everyone else fall to the way side.
My inspiration is fitness & wellness. Without these two things I can't be strong for my girls. I want them to know that they can be strong women at any age and that nothing can stand in their way.
My husband, Jason is in the 148th Air National Guard. His military path has led him on many journeys, deployments, and sacrifices over our 20 years of marriage. Many of which meant him being away from our family. The strong bond I have with my girls is attributed to this. What inspires me is noted above, but who inspires me is this man, our brave hero.
Shari Marshik: Sr Mgr, Content Marketing at Maurices
Everyone says it, but it is so true. Raising kids is scary and wonderful
all at the same time. As we do our best to raise two healthy, happy girls
in a society that bombards us with unrealistic ideals, I make a very
specific effort to create an environment of healthy eating, exercising
and making good choices. I know that to be successful, this starts with me
being a role model!
My inspiration? There are so many, but my girls inspire me all the time.
My youngest daughter Isabel has so much poise under pressure, I always say
that I want to be more like her. She tried out for volleyball at age 9 -
before she had ever even played the game! She just walked out and did it!
Was she good? No! But none of us are at first. It takes perseverance to
learn it and she totally rolled with it. I think we can all learn from
that. My oldest daughter Grace is a gymnast, which is a sport that
develops SO much strength, flexibility and poise. It’s just as much mental
as physical, but I have to say that she can go toe to toe with her dad
doing pull-ups - talk about inspiration!
Suzi Vandersteen: Owner/Designer/Creator of Kitchee Gammi Design Co http://kitcheegammidesignco.com
My motto to be a good role model for my kids is to hopefully show them not to worry about the small stuff and to know that everything will turn out okay no matter how crazy or scary things may seem at the time. I tell them that we are all responsible for our effort, but not the outcome. If the effort is there, we can hope for the best outcome.
My inspiration is that I want to look good! As a designer I have always felt confident in the plans that I have presented to my customers, but not so confident in the way I presented myself. I often used the excuse that I was tromping around construction and building sites to wear baggy jeans, clogs and black polar fleece sweatshirts when really I was just covering up. Now that I have lost nearly 50 pounds and toned up I am enjoying wearing clothes that better project my image reflect who I really am.
I still have a ways to go, because like most moms, I tend to put everyone else first and not make my workout/diet a priority. Balance is a daily effort for me, but I will continue to enjoy my FUN workouts with Jess and her inspirational, encouraging and helpful insights!
Cathy Markham: Rock Star Mom
It's quite a simple idea really. I try to instill in my girls the idea that they can do anything if they are smart and kind. I demand that they work very hard in school so that they have the freedom of choice later. The world is wide open for girls today. Especially for kind, smart bilingual ones. Don't be bossy, be the BOSS!
Traveling with them from a very young age made them realize how much bigger life is than Duluth Mn. When I was a young teen my mother was not around when I needed one. She was very selfish and cared far more for my alcoholic father than she did her children. Quite sad when I look back on it, but I now believe it actually made me much stronger than most. I no longer feel sadness, just envy for those that know the joy of what a great mom can add to their lives.
For many years I had decided that motherhood was not my calling. But when I met Dan Markham something changed. I was determined to not replay my mothers tape and be that kind of parent. I knew one thing, my girls would be amazing. I would make sure of that. I try to show them that strength of character is more important than anything money can buy. It's truly all people will remember about you. (Well money does buy plane tickets to far away countries, very necessary!)
Ruby understands and now thanks me for being so demanding when she was younger. Seeing how much her new family and her Rotary love her in Spain say it all. They call her the "American Superstar" and don't ever want her to leave. One daughter down and two to go! That last one is a tough cookie. It will take all my talent to steer her down the road.
Hope these words leave you feeling as good as they made me fill.
Don't forget to send you mother some love this Sunday.
Cheers to all the STRONG & BEAUTIFUL mothers!
-Jess