Beautiful Mama Blog Award

Well, I woke up this morning in not-the-best frame of mind, and it didn't really improve much... Until I went onto Twitter, and found that Shareen from A Real Mummy Diary had nominated me for a Beautiful Mama Blog Award!

If I'm honest, I'd never heard of the award before - so I did a bit of digging, and found that it originated here, with Atlanta Mom of Three. I think it's a lovely idea - who doesn't like to get an award, especially with "beautiful" in the title (someone has clearly not seen the state of me this morning!)

To accept the award I must:

• Save the image, and use it in my acceptance post (done!)
• List three things I love about motherhood
• Nominate as many deserving mamas as I like, and let them know I have done so...

So here we go then. Three things I love about motherhood...

1. It sorted me right out. I've had mental issues for a long time, and had a rather spectacular breakdown a couple of years ago. I was still struggling to recover from that when I met S's father and got pregnant, and pretty much went right back to square one. Now here I am, mother of the most gorgeous almost-one-year-old, and I find that mental health is not such a major issue any more. There's little time for self-obsessed navel-gazing when you've someone else to think about, 24/7. This is not me saying that people who have kids and still struggle with mental health issues are somehow inferior or wrong; it's me saying that for me, in my situation, having S has sorted me right out.
2. At least once a day, I look over at my gorgeous little mischief machine and think "oh my gawd, I made that!!" and with every day that passes, the more I know this is my doing, and nothing her father can take credit for. It's a massive ego boost to see a child who is so happy, so sociable, so bloody amazing, and know that you might have had anything to do with it.
3. Being a mother puts things into perspective in a way nothing else can (as far as I have experienced). The list of Important Things in my life has gone from being as long as my arm to very few items. As long as S has what she needs to be happy and healthy, the rest of it really doesn't matter. (she said, wearing too-big jeans hanging around her bum, no make-up, hair not done, big grin plastered across her face). I don't care if my nails have not been painted; none of my clothes fit me; I've not been underwear shopping for well over a year. My daughter is happy and since that's Number One on my list, I don't care about the rest of it!

And now, to nominate other deserving mamas...

Laura at My Life As A Mummy

Kate at Naked Mum

Sarah at Boo, Roo and Tigger Too

I love these blogs, and you should too - go and check them out!

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