My mom gave me the best gift of all: her time

I remember being in Grade 5. I was 10 years old, and I didn’t have many friends. I was at a new school and the ‘girl drama’ had started, and I frankly didn’t understand it.

I was never a ‘cool’ kid. I had my nose in a book and was generally ‘younger’ than my age in my interests — a problem that directly conflicted with preteen girls trying desperately to be older.

This age is not an easy one, and I try to keep that in mind with my own 10-year-old daughter. But I do remember one thing distinctly about this age: every day at lunch hour, my mom would pick me up and give me a one-hour reprieve from school.

I would come out of the schoolyard, and she would be waiting for me in her Expedition. Sometimes, we got takeout. Other times, we took the short drive home to eat.

What I missed back then was that my mom was a busy person. She had three other kids and ran a law practice. I’m sure she didn’t have the time in her day to drop everything and come grab me. But she did.

Now, as a mom of a 10-year-old girl, I realize what my mom gave to me. She gave me the gift of time and just showing up.

This Mother’s Day, I want to remind myself — and all moms — that the gift of presence and time is the best gift of all.

Thanks for the lunches, Mom.

by Jennifer Stewart

Co-founder of The Honest Talk. President and Founder of Syntax Strategic. She is one of the Ottawa Business Journal’s ‘Top Forty Under 40′, and was a finalist for Ottawa’s ‘Female Entrepreneur of the Year.’

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