In her column this month Jenny Schafer of Evolved Parenting reminds us that we need to  celebrate ourselves on Mother’s Day:

May 10th is Mother’s Day. Most of us give and receive flowers and thoughtful cards. Our kids hug us and our significant others tell us how much they appreciate all that we do. So when did all this mother love start?

The ancient Greeks celebrated a holiday in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods, while ancient Romans celebrated a holiday in honor of Cybele, a mother goddess. And in the British Isles and Celtic Europe, the goddess Brigid, and later her successor St. Brigid, were honored with a spring Mother’s Day, connected with the first milk of the ewes.

These days Mother’s Day has become more of a Hallmark holiday. While flowers, hugs and words of appreciation are always welcome and much deserved, what are you doing to celebrate yourself? Let’s not forget how incredible you are and how much work it truly is to be the CEO of your household. You take good care of your kids every day, but are you remembering to take care of yourself too? After all, the greatest gift we can give our kids is a healthy and happy mama.

This Mother’s Day, set some goals for yourself. What have you always been planning to do? Where have you always wanted to go? Who have you been meaning to see? Make a list of goals to reach by next Mother’s Day and make this a new personal tradition each year.

So on May 10th, as well as accepting your much-deserved gifts of appreciation from your loved ones, take a little time to appreciate the goddess that you are and set some goals for yourself. The mother of your children deserves it.

Jenny Schafer, creator of Evolved Parenting, is a mother, social worker, trained daycare provider and former nanny. For our previous columns from Jenny click here, or email Jenny your parenting questions at jenny@evolvedparenting.ca.