Although the official day for ‘celebrating’ your mum – ‘Mother’s Day’ has been and gone, I’m a strong believer in the fact that you should appreciate the people around you all year round. When New Look offered me the chance to get involved in their #MyMumTaughtMe campaign, I thought it was a lovely opportunity to dedicate a post to my mum- celebrating all the things she’s taught me growing up – and still tries to instil in me today. Both fashion and value wise, we are very similar, which did cause a bit of friction when I hit the troublesome teens (we had a phase where we bickered every morning – although we laugh about it now) however luckily, our similarities and the things we have in common have meant that I now consider my mum as a best friend!
My mum has taught me lots of things, many might seem minor or trivial – but it’s all part of who we are and so for that, I am very grateful!
- Real friends stick around. It’s safe to say that throughout growing up, I have had a fair few problems with friends. In primary school, I became friendly with two girls who I thought were the absolute bees knees at the time. They were far more confident than me, wore the latest fashions and intimidated even the boys. Back then, I felt a sense of awe that they’d even want to be friends with me. However they were far from what ‘real friends’ should be. They bullied me, left me out, called me names and left me crying in my room at my own sleepovers. My mum told me from the very beginning that real friends shouldn’t treat me the way they were (even before it got bad) but I defiantly pushed through – pretending all was fine. It was only when my mum went into school and spoke to the head teacher about the way I was being treated that I saw through their actions. I’m quite a naive person (although less so now) and tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, opening up to them and being kind – before I even have a chance to get to know them. My mum taught me that it’s okay not to have hundreds of ‘friends’ that don’t treat you with the same kindness you give them, it’s okay to stamp out a toxic friendship and that it’s more than okay to say ‘enough is enough’.
- Wear what you want, not what the magazines say you should wear. I’ve always admired my mum’s sense of style – as she looks incredible in everything (many mistake her for my sister) and she isn’t afraid to be daring in what she throws together. She once had a pair of sunflower printed slightly-flared trousers that she used to wear out shopping – and she’d always get tonnes of compliments from strangers in the street. Today, she is actually responsible for the majority of my fashion choices – as I am terrible at choosing what to wear and so often, I leave it up to her. I had an interview at Vogue last summer and she styled my entire outfit from head to toe! She has made a couple of debatable fashion choices – such as the time she decided to pick me up from school with cheerleader-style high bunches with brightly coloured scrunchies (I told her she was highly embarrassing and never to do it again) however on the whole she has amazing style and I love that she taught me not to follow the crowd and wear what everyone else is sporting – but to sport what I love!
- Be your own person. From an early age, my mum instilled in me that it was okay to be my own person. I didn’t have to follow the crowd and do the things that everyone else did to ‘look cool’ or fit in. She taught me that it was better to be different (if I wanted to be), shake things up a bit walk to the beat of my own drum.
- Stand up for what you believe in. My mum taught me literally and in practice, that you should stand up for what you believe in, regardless of what anyone thinks. At times this was displayed less diplomatically than others – such as the time we walked into a rather forlorn, freezing, empty looking shop which had recently opened and said very loudly ‘it’s absolutely freezing in here, there’s no need to have the air conditioning up this high – no wonder they’ve got no customers’, to the disgust of the rather miserable looking shop owner – the shop actually closed down a few weeks later. However all in all, my mum has always encouraged that I speak my mind. Perhaps this backfired when I turned 14 and I started to speak my mind about EVERYTHING, teamed with eye rolling, heavy sighs and sulking – however I think it’s a very strong – and positive quality to have in a world where being complacent just isn’t good enough.
So there we have it – just a few of the many things my beautiful mum has taught me! I hope you enjoyed my post (and the ‘never seen before pictures’ – there might even be a few my mum hasn’t seen, as I’ve been scrolling through some old ones for ages finding them). I’d love to know a few of the things your mum taught you in the comment box below (if you’d like to share).
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