How to Support Mothers This Mother's Day

I have to admit, this is my second attempt at writing my post for the Motherhood ~ Celebrating the Difference Blog Hop. My first post was all about the anticipation of becoming a mother...you know the waiting and the unknown before your child is born. It was a good post. But, after doing a little thinking I realized that I had something else to say today. I got to thinking about what is means to support other mothers. In our society we are very busy judging others...laying blame, critiquing, praising, validating and invalidating. Do we ever take the time to truly support each other? What does it mean to really support other mothers?

Becoming a mother is pretty easy. To be frank, you have sex, get pregnant and have a child...ta da...a mother is born. There are no prerequisite courses you have to take, it doesn't take years of training and there are no tests you have to pass. However, there is no lack of information available...there are plenty of books, websites and blogs offering up plenty of opinions and bucket loads of advice. But, the reality is that every mother doesn't have access to that information. Women become mothers in every social and economic situation imaginable. Mothers come with their own personal baggage too. Mothers have been raised in homes that  might have been supportive, abusive, upper class, working class, single, married, divorced, addicted, mentally ill. Everyone is another mother's child...and every girl can grow up and become a mother. It's pretty safe to say that as mothers we try our best, but we all stumble along the way. Do we always remember this when "we" pass judgement? Do we really support our fellow mothers?

This Mother's Day I'm starting a new family tradition. We are going to educate ourselves about a charity that assists mothers, young women and girls. Not only are we going to educate ourselves we are going to find a way to support the charity or group. Here are a few groups that we'll be considering.

Daily Bread Food Bank ~ Make a donation of food or money to a local food bank, supporting the mothers who need the food bank to feed their families.

Family Service Toronto ~ Help the fight to end violence against women and mothers, by reaching out to the local services that provide assistance to those in need.

Canadian Mental Health Association ~ The mental health of mothers has a major impact on the entire family unit.

Native Women's Association of Canada ~ Supporting aboriginal mothers is like feeding the very soul of Canada...it's important to learn about the issues impacting all mothers in Canada.

My mother was a great mother...she faced many challenges growing up and along her trip through motherhood. She grew up with a single mother and had my sister when she was just 18 years old. Despite difficult circumstances she found a way to rise up and raise her children as best she could. One of the most important things my mother taught us was to try and see life from other people's perspective and help to raise up others. If another mother is in need, lend her a hand. I hope I can pass this on to my daughters. I hope they will always strive to raise others up, to support others, to empathize and assist. This Mother's Day I'll be taking the time to support other mothers.

Today's post is part of the Motherhood: Celebrating the Difference Blog Hop that is taking place across these 22 amazing blogs...take some time and have a read...

Inspired by Family,  Kids Activities Blog, Rainbows within Reach, Powerful Mothering, Fun-a-Day, The Pleasantest Thing, Royal Baloo, Laly Mom, True Aim, Kids Stuff World, Milk and Cuddles, Smiling like Sunshine, Teach Beside Me, JDaniel 4’s Mom, Kitchen Counter Chronicle, My Nearest and Dearest, Nate and Rachel, Two-Daloo, Mamas Like Me, Mama Miss, One Mommy.

If you are a blogger and you have a story or something to share on how you celebrated motherhood, feel free to add a link to today's post so we can read your story as well. Note: by sharing you give us permission to feature you (attributing of course).