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Editor’s Desk: Let’s be honest, every day should be Mother’s Day

Headshot of Kate Campbell
Kate CampbellGeraldton Guardian
As we approach that annual day where we thank our lucky stars for life’s greatest gift — our mums — one thing is bleedingly obvious. Every day should be treated as Mother’s Day.
Camera IconAs we approach that annual day where we thank our lucky stars for life’s greatest gift — our mums — one thing is bleedingly obvious. Every day should be treated as Mother’s Day. Credit: Lisa Favazzo/The Geraldton Guardian

There are many forms of love, but if there is another word to define the purest kind, it has to be mother.

As we approach that annual day where we thank our lucky stars for life’s greatest gift — our mums — one thing is bleedingly obvious. Every day should be treated as Mother’s Day.

No matter how old you get, you never stop needing your mum. I know that for a fact.

New mums, old mums, single mums, mum who do it all, mums who are no longer here, substitute mothers and motherly figures — Sunday is another chance to pay homage to the person who brought us into the world and/or shaped who we are.

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I don’t know from experience, but it doesn’t take someone with a PhD to know that motherhood is one of the hardest, most challenging and thankless jobs around. Constant worrying, sleepless nights, dirty nappies, toddler tantrums, teenage attitudes, being treated like a servant-cook-maid-taxi driver all rolled into one? It doesn’t sound super appealing on paper, but it has to be the most important duty on the planet. And I would imagine the most rewarding, when those progeny stop being snotty-nosed brats and offer a hug or a ‘I love you, mum’ in return for the countless things done for them.

Last Father’s Day I wrote a piece about how resilient and tougher-than-titanium my dad is and how he has inspired everyone around him in his many health battles, none more so than his recent fight with cancer — which, unsurprisingly, he won.

The phrase ‘behind every great man is a great woman’ fittingly describes my parents. My mum has put up with a lot, always in a support role. We don’t always give that person by our side in our darkest moments due credit or enough praise, but we should. My dad and my sisters would be the first to say we don’t know where would be without my mum. She’s the rock-solid foundation that holds us together, the glue, the sounding board, that calming presence and voice of reason among many strong personalities. The one we all know we can rely on — without doubt, without words, without wavering.

I don’t leave it until one Sunday every year to let my mother know what she means to me and I recommend you do the same. I try to tell her as much as possible, through words and actions. Because time is fleeting and although it seems incomprehensible, I know my parents won’t be around forever, so there are never enough opportunities to repay that parental love, faith and support in small, meaningful ways.

So even though we should say it every day, let this Sunday be the day we shout it from the rooftops. Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful mum Shelley and all the mums out there.

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