Mother's Day - Motherhood is a Choice.

'Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile & who love you no matter what.'

-Unknown

Today is Mother's Day here in the UK. Mother's Day is a tough day for me, after all these years you'd think it wouldn't bother me but unfortunately I am only human and as much as I try I still find it upsetting and difficult. 

I know I am very blessed, I have many wonderful, loving people in my life. They love me unconditionally and always try to be there for me. Not all of them are blood related, to be honest majority of them aren't. 

I used to think family was just whoever you were related to by blood. I believed you didn't get to choose your family, it was just which ever family you happened to be born into. 

Over the years I realised this isn't the case. I realised family is simply who you choose, not who you are given. The sad part is though they need to choose you back. 

Anyway back to Mother's Day. I thought Mother's Day was simply just for actual blood Mother's, whoever gave birth to you or shared your DNA. 

Over the years I realised Motherhood is a choice. You can choose not to be a Mother. Now this doesn't mean you can choose not to get pregnant or choose to have an abortion if you do. I mean if you give birth to a child it does not automatically make you a Mother, it is still a choice. You can choose to either be there for that child for the rest of your life or you can choose to give that child away. You may care for the child for a few years and then turn your back on them, or you may choose to be there forever. Either way Motherhood is a choice. 

So in my opinion, today, Mother's Day is a day to celebrate all those women who choose to be a Mother or Mother figure. 

Today is for the women who choose to be a part of a child's life for as long as physically possible, the women who will be there for that child no matter what!

You do not have to have even given birth to the child, you may not have any blood or marriage connection to the child, you just need to be there for them!

Whether you are a Mother through blood, a Mother through adoption, fostering. An Aunty, a Nanna, Grandma, Sister, or Friend. Today is for all the women who CHOOSE to be a part of a child's life for as long they are can be. 

Today is not a day to celebrate the women who turned their backs on children. It is not a day to celebrate the women who choose to be a part of the child's life only while it suited them.

Today is for the women who love unconditionally! 

Above is the lady who loves me unconditionally, my Nan. She is the woman who has always been there for me no matter what. And I literally mean no matter what. She hasn't had it easy when it comes to me, I have put her through some tough times and lots of worry but that never stopped her loving me, standing by me and providing for me. 

Now don't get me wrong, we drive each other insane sometimes, she can be a nag and I can be ignorant when it comes to advice she gives me. But through it all we still love each other. 

This amazing woman, is basically my Mum. And I will be forever grateful for everything she has ever done for me. 

She puts up with my moaning, she's there for me when I'm sad, or ill. She is there for me through the happy times and the bad. 

Because of my experience with women in my life, the women who chose not to be Mother's, the one's who turned their backs, I find it very difficult to respect women. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are many amazing women out there but from my own personal experience, I haven't found many.

But my Nan is one of the few women I have a huge amount of respect for and who I love dearly. So she is the one I will celebrate today. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic Mother's Day!

A quick thank you to all the other people in my life that love me and my children unconditionally. You know who you are and I'm sure you'll no doubt be praised in my blog soon enough. :) 

Note - I am fully aware there are extreme circumstances where a Mother had to choose to give away or turn their backs on their children but I am not going to cover every possible scenario, I'm sure you get the idea. :)