Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are moms, surrogate moms, guardians, and mothers in your communities and workplaces; I celebrate you.

I’ve been a mom for 22 years, and I’ve done some really hard things in my life, but I tell you, being a mom is one of the hardest. I have learned so much about myself; parenting is the most intense personal development journey of my life.

I learned at a very young age that my children were listening and watching my actions, my words, and my behaviours. One of the gifts I gave myself during motherhood was making sure, 90% of the time, I showed up the example of what I wanted them to be. I learned a valuable lesson about this when my now adult daughter was 18 months old.

My daughter was playing on the floor with her new doll. Now, this doll did not have a name yet, and while she was playing away, the phone rang (back in the days of landlines), and I picked up the phone; it was my girlfriend. I was pregnant with our son, and she asked me how I felt. I said I felt really pregnant, and my arse was really big. As soon as I finished the call, my daughter, hearing that while playing on the floor with the doll, held it up and proudly called it “Arsy.”

It was an incredible example as I stood in the kitchen watching my daughter call this doll Arsy based on what she just heard me say. At that moment, I knew my children would watch, listen, and model my behaviour. No matter how hard I tried to convince her that this was not a good name for the doll, it stuck.

I have made a lot of mistakes, I am not a perfect mom, and we absolutely have 10% days, but I show up. I don’t think it’s ever too late to show up. I don’t care if your children are two, twelve, or twenty-two; it’s never too late to do things better and differently. Tell the people you raised that you love them and are proud of them.