Honoring All Moms this Mother's Day
May is Maternal Mental Health Month, as well as Mothers Day. We know there can be such a range of feelings on Mother’s Day, so we wanted to highlight, celebrate, and honor all mothers this month. We also want to highlight a special event happening this month in the Greater Nashville Area that honors mothers and fathers who have experienced loss through stillbirth, miscarriage, or early infant death.
This May, we recognize and honor all who are:
Cherishing motherhood in all it’s messy ups & downs.
Celebrating your own mother, grandmother, and/or great grandmother.
Step-moms, Adoptive moms, Foster moms, Mentor moms, and/or Spiritual moms.
Are single-mothers and are parenting on your own.
Pregnant with new life, both expectant and surprising.
Longing to be a mom and haven’t had that dream yet fulfilled.
Grieving and missing your mom, who is no longer with us.
Wondering if you “count” as a mom if you’ve experienced miscarriage, infertility, or child loss (you do).
LGBTQIA+ and transgender moms and their unique experience in motherhood.
Mothers of color grieving the death of black men, women, and children at the hands of violence.
Mothers struggling with Postpartum mood disorders (PMADS), including: postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, and/or postpartum psychosis.
Processing a traumatic birth story, feelings of guilt finding out you were pregnant when you may not have wanted to be at this time, or reminders of the painful parts of becoming a mother.
Dealing with “mom-shame”, feelings of “not enough”, and judgements from strangers online, other moms, and even your own mom.
Sad at not being able to see your mom for a long time due to COVID-19 health concerns.
Empty-nesting and/or exploring a new relationship with adult children.
Processing or who are recognizing they have experienced abuse or neglect at the hands of your own mother, and are walking a road of healing.
Celebrating a renewed relationship with your mom after reconnecting or repairing.
Wishing you had a better relationship with your mom, or a better relationship with your own children.
Giving yourself permission to challenge the stereotypes of conventional motherhood or gender norms.
Exploring your own relationship to yourself with more “inner-nurturing”, or “inner-mothering.”
Oh, and let’s not forget all our dog-moms out there!
No matter what your relationship is to motherhood, mothering, or being a mom, we celebrate YOU. You matter, you are seen, and you are valued.
Has any of these descriptors given you the words you’ve been searching for, but didn’t know how to name? Are we missing any that you may identify with?
We also want to highlight one very special event honoring Mothers and Fathers who have experienced loss through stillbirth, miscarriage, or early infant death.
On May 23, 2021, from 2:00pm - 5:30pm, Nashville is gathering at Centennial Park for a FREE event to celebrate and honor those in the loss community.
This day is designed to help build meaningful--but also fun--memories for you and your family. At this event, you’ll experience:
Therapy Dogs who are ready for petting and loving-on throughout the park.
A Butterfly Release where every participant, young or old, will have their own butterfly to release in memory of their sweet one. We will release butterflies in the Sunken Garden. Bring your cameras!
A Celebration of Mothers and Fathers to remember and honor even the short time you shared with your sweet ones.
Crafts, including creating a personalized Memorial Garden Stone in memory of your sweet one.
Food, Live Music, Games, and more!
To register for this May 23rd, 2021 event, click the sign-up tab:
SIGN-UP
No matter what Mother’s Day brings up for you, we’d love to help you process, celebrate, grieve, and explore your own relationship with mothering and motherhood in therapy. For more info, reach out via our contact page. Today is the perfect day to start.