a blog nod to my mom

I would imagine I'm not alone but the older I get the greater my appreciation for my parents grows. And as I have kids of my own and those kids get older and the juggling act ebbs and flows I find myself in retrospective awe of how my mom handled it all. Oh, if only 16-year-old Grace could read me now because teenager Grace knew it all and was going to do everything different and how do you like me now, omniscient Grace of (many!) years past?

my mom as a teenager. I believe her nickname was, "Coolia" ... no irony or sarcasm, also featuring #NoOrdinaryCard

If I had a dollar for every time I thought, "how did Mom handle potty training/sleep training/birthday partying/dinner making/play dating" without losing her mind? I could probably afford to just buy her a nice little abode next to ours so that she could teach me in person because she made it all seem so effortless. And not only did she just handle it all but I have such vivid memories of her making our childhood feel special in lots of different ways. She was known to sneakily buy one of those Valentine's Day grams that they sold in middle and high school and signing it, "from a secret admirer" and sending me into a total googly-eyed tailspin for a few hours until I got home and found out the truth. She routinely tucked notes into our lunchboxes and always made sure our birthdays felt like great big celebrations without the help of Amazon Prime - gasp.

Bettina and baby Grace (who I think resembles newborn Julia? slightly!)

We haven't even gotten to the after school activities and homework nitty gritty stage of parenting yet but I know my admiration will only grow when those days hit us like a freight train in a few short years. She poured herself into planning our wedding while I made silly decisions about my dress and hair and she dealt with all the headaches without a whisper of a complaint.

I don't think I've completely pinned down my love language (can there be mashups of all five?) but I know I struggle with finding the right way to say anything but especially expressing sentiments such as, "thank you! you are loved and appreciated" without being long-winded (hello this entire blog) which is why I love the simplicity of Hallmark Signature Cards. Their thoughtful and meaningful messages articulate what I would imagine so many of us want to convey and communicate to our moms on Mother's Day.

I love these photos of my mom "introducing" our old dog Flannel to infant Grace via Flannel's blanket and then eventually meeting tangible Flannel when the time was right.

Both their aesthetic and message are no-fuss, to the point, but so pretty with just enough pizazz for all the deserving moms out there this upcoming Mother's Day (May 8th! mark your calendars!). The cards range from funny to sentimental so there's a card from every mom and mother figure on your figurative list.

So here's to you, Mom.

The most kind and generous firecracker I have the pleasure of knowing. If I'm even 1/2 the mom you were to us ... I'll be a pretty happy camper.

Many thanks to Hallmark Signature for sponsoring this post and happy early (early!!) Mother's Day to all the mom readers out there!