I often think about the cheesy slogans that are stamped across mugs. ‘Best mum in the world’ is a common one, and the classic, sentimental mug with a bouquet of flowers is a popular gift for Mother’s Day. Millions of us have bought those mugs for our mums. It’s an easy statement to make, and yet what does it actually mean? If you’re saying your mum is the best in the world, then what are you insinuating about my mum? Our mums have done so much for us, from we were little and for the rest of our lives, mother’s day is the only day we can say we know what’s Best For Mums even though they will still argue they know what is best for us. If you are a Mum then you will understand that you have to do a lot to support your children because you want the best for them. You will also understand that it costs a lot to support your children, even when they are adults, they still need financial support as well sometimes, you can visit The Magic Mom Guide To Saving Money Every Month, to find out more information on how to save money every month so you can have that little bit extra to support your children.
What has Maxine ever done to you? She’s my mum. Jane’s your mum – or maybe it’s Julie, Louise, Wendy, Debbie or Cathy. Many of us claim that our mum is our queen, and inside ourselves we know it to be true. According to statistics in 2014, there are 3.52 billion women in the world, and around 2 billion mothers. It’s fair to say the winner of the ‘best mum’ award has a great deal of competition, and we shall never be able to measure the nominees to pick a winner fairly or practically; even if we could, wouldn’t our votes be bias?
Most of us would agree that:
- Our mum’s hugs are the warmest and mean the most. They also cure a lot of bad moods.
- Wherever you are, she is your first port of call when you’re in trouble.
- And wherever you are, she is your first port of call when you receive good news, because no one else can express ecstatic happiness at your good fortune more than your mum.
- She’s there for you, all the time. Even when she isn’t there physically, you’ll always feel her around you.
- When you see your mum cry, you automatically get choked up.
- The famous saying, ‘nothing is lost until your mum can’t find it’ should not be taken lightly. Your mum has the skill of a private investigator when it comes to finding your clothes, jewellery or your school reports. Your old jeans? “They’re in the cupboard, in between your dad’s old woolly jumper and the ladybird costume you wore in a school dance when you were six.” Thanks mum.
- Her words are gospel, and they are all you’ll ever need to succeed in life. One day you’ll realise that 90% of the things she told you when you were younger were right. You’ll be amazed at her wisdom, but your mum won’t be. She knew all along.
- Our mum really is the best in the world.
She is our champion most of all because of her influence over our lives. Almost single-handedly, she has cultivated the greatest parts of us, and we know we will never stop reciting her wisdom onto our friends, and one day, our own children. There is a deep and unbreakable attachment to our mum that is literally embedded within our skin, our smiles and our eyes. If she nursed you from a baby, she watched you grow. In nature, that would be the equivalent of planting seeds in the ground, dousing them with water every day and watching it develop from a shrub into a stalk, to a trunk and finally into a thick tree. It will take some years, but one day the tree will loom proudly over heads and its endless leafy branches will be lost in the sky, in the same way you smirk when you stand up against your mum and she exclaims: “You can’t be taller than me!”
When you were once the size of a loaf of bread, or a little bigger, you can’t blame her for being shocked.
My old swimming coach once said to me “your mum thinks the sunshine shines out of your arse”. I laughed at the analogy, but I wasn’t surprised. I thought all mums believed that about their children – even if they don’t outwardly express it. Even when we maybe aren’t the best version of ourselves, our mum’s sigh and continue to love us unconditionally. They think we’re pretty incredible when, in reality, we are momentarily wonderful but mostly mediocre. They beam proudly over our accomplishments, however small they are. They remember the date of our first haircut, and shed tears as they recall how we took the snips with the bravery of a soldier. As their children, we know the true winners – the true unsung heroes are them.
Debating and reasoning over why your or my mum is the best in the world isn’t the point of the statement at all. Just because that mug is one of Moonpig’s bestsellers, and thousands of mum’s drink from the same sentimental crockery as they watch Downton Abbey doesn’t take away from what you were trying to say when you gave it to her. If anything, the sheer amount of mums that have been dubbed ‘simply the best’ by their children or husbands or friends makes the compliment all the more amazing.
It means that despite the overuse and throwaway tendency, we still think our mum is the ultimate. We don’t care if it’s cliché – we defy numbers to tell her. It takes a lot of love to genuinely believe your mum is the best in the world, and a lot of us do. A lot of us always will. There is no one better.
Happy Mother’s Day.
