The Art of Being a Mother

Part 7 of 7

Writing Your Memoirs

Everybody writes memoirs.

Don’t think that only rich and famous people write memoirs. We all do.

Yes, huh.

A memoir (from French: mémoire: memoria, meaning memory or reminiscence) is a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments or events, both public or private, that took place in the subject’s life.

Who knows better about those Mom moments, and who is writing them as life happens?

The reality is that each of us is writing our memoirs as we live out life in the daily activities we face and experience. We can’t go back and undo what has been done. We can, however, make changes for the future. The opportunity to go back and re-do what we could or should have done earlier is gone. Yet we can move forward in a different direction.

Changing the ending of our memoirs

The point is not so much where we have come, but where we are heading. We might have started out weakly, yet we can still finish strong.

If there are regrets in our parenting past, we can make restitution and receive forgiveness.

If there are areas where we failed, we can become different people today.

We can finish strong!

How we want to be remembered

If you could write the epitaph on your tombstone, what would you want it to say? What are the things you would change if you could do your parenting over again? If you are in the throes of mommy-ing little people, what are the things you’d like to have different in your heart and your home?

The secret is to decide now what we want people to say about us after we’re gone – and then emulate those characteristics today.

I started thinking about how I wanted to be remembered. What were the things that were important to me? How could I model that today?

You know something? On those days when I really didn’t feel like sleeping in a tent, playing ball in the front yard, or hosting a birthday party, I thought about the things I hoped my kids would remember about me. I knew that those moments could never be re-captured, and I had only this day to be the person my kids needed me to be.

Did I fail? You betcha. Did I do some things right? For sure.

I learned not to try to be like other moms – but to be who I am. When it comes down to it, kids don’t care about fancy birthday cakes or the best clothes and toys if mom is invested in their lives.

 

So how about it, artist moms?

How do you want to be remembered?

What are you doing about it, today?