I’m already a mom of 4 adults who are almost independent of us. I’ve also worked on corporate strategies in the past. But guess what. I never thought of combining mommyhood with visioning and coming up with a statement on life for myself. I guess I really never had the time back then, what with 4 kids to raise.
I can relate when young Moms share that their waking hours are for the kids, the hubby and the home and very little of it is for themselves. In fact, as a young Mom then, I learned to sleep late because that was my ME time (a book, a facial, watching a rerun of the night’s news on TV, — when all the kids, including the hubby, were already asleep.
Mothers are natural nurturers and while we often miss our ME time, we willingly give it up where the family is concerned. Over the years though, I have come to realize that it isn’t selfish at all to want your own ME time. We moms have to realize that we can only give what we have. If we have no energy left, we could end up short-tempered with the kids at the end of the stick. If we neglect ourselves, we end up with low self-esteem and this does not do our families any good. I remember when hubby went through a long period of illness, I told the kids that I would continue going to yoga classes and workshops. I told them that I had to take care of myself so I could continue taking care of them all. This is how I think every nurturing Mom should think. Caring for one’s self eventually radiates out to the family.
It’s good to remind ourselves about this mindset and the Mom Manifesto is definitely one such way. Once the manifesto is finished, we can print it out and tack it in front of our desks or the ref door or anywhere where we can be reminded often of our goals for ourselves.
Two good friends, Janice Villanueva (Mommy Mundo Founder) and Michele Alignay (MA, Parenting, Relationship and Family Life Specialist and Certified Psychologist) designed the online workshop. At an intimate gathering of mommies (all friends!) recently at Slice Bonifacio High Street, we were introduced to the mechanics which we are helping kick off.
For the next five weeks, I’m inviting all of you mommies to join me. Starting today, April 22, and every Friday thereafter for 5 Fridays, Expo Mom will come out with activity sheets that can be downloaded from www.expomom.com/mommanifesto. We will spend about 15 minutes at most filling up these activity sheets as these will give us food for thought for creating what will eventually be our very own, mindful Mom Manifesto.
At the end of the 5 weeks we will have a chance to share our Mom Manifestos with other moms at Expo Mom (May 22-24, 2015) at the Glorietta Activity Center, Makati City, or share it online.
Aside from this being a personal journey for Moms to define their life purpose in a mindful way, Moms based in the Philippines who participate and fulfill the eligibility requirements spelled out get to be included in a contest with a chance to win some special prizes.
For more details about Mom Manifesto and the contest, visit www.expomom.com/mommanifesto