Many years ago, when my children were small, I took an art class. I loved painting. 2 hours a week of quiet focus with some girlfriends and the joy of creating something purely for myself. One day I mentioned to my art teacher that I felt guilty painting at home while the children were awake. As though, by choosing something for myself, I was somehow neglecting my role.

He came over to my table and said something that has stayed with me.

He told me that one of the greatest influences in his life had been watching his own mother paint at home. Seeing her give herself time and space to be creative. Seeing her be a whole person, not just a caregiver, but a woman with passions, curiosity and a life of her own.

That, he said, was what inspired him most. It was a quiet but powerful reminder: children don’t just learn from what we do for them they learn from who we allow ourselves to be.

This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating mums not for the invisible, thankless tasks that keep everything running (though we see them), but for the example they set simply by living fully.

For choosing creativity.
For choosing growth.
For choosing joy.
For choosing themselves unapologetically.

We celebrate mum who shows her children what it looks like to pursue something you love, who demonstrates self-respect by carving out space for her own dreams. The mum who reminds us that being a woman doesn’t disappear when you become a mother.

She is not here only to serve.
She is not defined by the mundane.
She is a woman in her own right.
A person to look up to.
A source of inspiration.

This Mother’s Day, we celebrate mums for who they are in their truest selves.