By Renee Martinez, Founder of Raising Boys World
Being a mom is much more difficult than I would have ever imagined. It’s truly physically and mentally exhausting, but it’s also much more rewarding than I could’ve ever dreamed possible. As a mother to boys, I think it’s a nice opportunity for them to help Dad to manage the daily tasks and give Mom a break. It’s important that they realize what Mom does and how they can help out. I enjoyed a perfect Mother’s Day. I woke up at 9:30, read a little, and then returned to sleep until 11:35. What a joy to gain some much-needed zzz’s. I felt really invigorated and refreshed. Then I went for a run. A nice long run. I listened to the new running playlist and I ran like Forest Gump, with no real plan or direction. I just kept running. It was nice to be able to think and not feel pressured to return home quickly. Once home, I took a nice long, hot shower. Nobody was knocking at the door or walking in to tell me that someone hit them or broke a toy. After getting changed I returned to reality when the troops returned with Daddy from their adventure. Suddenly the noise level increased and there was activity from all directions. My peace had ended, but the real Mother’s Day had just begun as the boys gave me the special gifts they created and we started getting ready for dinner with family (all planned by the men – they cooked and cleaned too). While on my run, so many thoughts ran in and out of my mind. I wish I had some sort of brain recording device so I could just think and have my thoughts put into some useable format for later use. I came up with some great story ideas for the blog too and unfortunately, now I’ve forgotten all of them.
One thought I do remember is a question I had: How did Mother’s Day start? According to Wikipedia “The modern Mother’s Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis, as a day to honor mothers and motherhood; especially within the context of families, and family relationships.[1] It is now celebrated on various days, in many parts of the world. Father’s Day is a corresponding holiday honoring fathers. The practice of celebrating Mother’s Day is a relatively recent tradition, first established in the U.S.A. in the early 20th century. It should not be confused with other pagan and Christian traditions honoring mothers, or with the U.K. holiday, Mothering Sunday, which is also known as Mother’s Day and dates back to the 16th century. Many countries around the world now celebrate a “Mother’s Day”, generally this is a recent practice, derived from the U.S. tradition. Exceptions include, for example, Mothering Sunday in the UK, which predates the U.S. holiday.”
To all my fellow Moms all over the world, you deserve a moment of peace for yourself. May you feel valued, loved and truly appreciated. Often our work can be without much gratitude, but the hard work pays off when we raise healthy, happy children.
About the Author: Renee consults and speaks professionally on social media marketing, integrated marketing communications, public relations and branding. She is the president of Ruby Marketing Communications (www.rubymarcom.com), a boutique marketing communications company that specializes in providing branding, social media strategy and integration, and creative services. Her blog (www.lisac95.sg-host.com), provides resources on everything marketing and social media for her active audience.
Renee has contributed as a featured monthly columnist in the monthly jewelry industry publication, JCK, on matters related to internet marketing as well as in InStore Magazine as a featured blogger where she writes about developing effective marketing strategies for the jewelry industry using social media. She is the founder of: Social Media Biz Summit (www.socialmediabizsummit.com), the first large-scale SM conference to come to Buffalo, NY; #jewelrychat, a weekly twitter chat for the jewelry industry and www.RaisingBoysWorld.com. Renee teaches social marketing courses at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY for the business school as well as offers small group social media marketing training and educational seminars for businesses in Western New York and beyond.
Renee has dabbled in the internet marketing arena since the early 90′s and is not ashamed to call herself a “marketing geek”. From chatting in AOL, “sharing” music on Napster, and teaching HTML classes before it was considered “cool” to developing comprehensive social media strategies, effective public relations campaigns and managing online communities (most recently Chevy Girls Buffalo).
She enjoys being able to help people find their voice online and to create buzz about their product or service that will give them the results they desire.
Renee can be found on Twitter (@reneemmartinez) and Facebook (http:/www.facebook.com/RubyMarCom).
