Thank you for showing me that from discomfort are born the greatest gifts of all. For surely there can’t be many discomforts greater than childbirth. Yet after all the pain, the stretching, and the screaming, came you, and in an instant the discomfort was was all but forgotten as I rejoiced in the beauty I had birthed. I promise to cherish the gift of discomfort.

Thank you for teaching me the unlimited nature of true love. For even sleep deprived and bleary eyed, my heart simultaneously melted and expanded as your big bewitching eyes gazed into mine in the early hours of each sleepless night, and as you grew older your love for me was just as evident, every time you sought a cuddle even when I was in a bad mood, distracted, busy. You have taught me the meaning of unconditional. I promise to cherish the gift of true love.

Thank you for showing me how to truly live in the moment, for as I grew older, I seem to have forgotten. Yet watching your delight as you are enchanted by the circular ripples in a puddle, regardless of the torrential rain pouring around you and drenching you, reminded me to stop hurrying, to just stop, and appreciate the magic in every precious moment, to wander in wonder. I promise to cherish the gift of the now.

Thank you for reminding me how to play, how to be completely without inhibitions and free to laugh and run, to sing and dance, to view the world as a playground and to know that the purpose of life is fun, with no other agenda. Surely play is the greatest art of all, yet us grown ups lost it in the process of trying to fit in to this crazy idea we have of the world as a serious and sombre place in which we must all behave in an orderly fashion. I promise to cherish the gift of play.

Thank you for reminding me to go with the flow. I realise that as I got older, I bought into in rules about what it’s okay to feel and what it’s not. Anything ‘bad’ got locked away and probably caused a lot if unnecessary pain inside but you’ve reminded me that all emotions are just energy in motion and when allowed to flow, are gone as quickly as they arrived. I promise to cherish the gift of the flow.

Thank you for showing me the magic of imagination. Your inner world is as real to you as your outer one, and as I watch you and your brothers acting out roles you have created for yourselves..one minute a king in a castle, the next a warrior in battle, the next still riding a flying horse, I am reminded of the unlimited depths of our imagination when we give ourselves permission to explore it. I promise to cherish the gift of imagination.

Thank you for reminding me that true creativity comes from the heart. Your creations are endless as you are inspired by life itself. A picture here, a story there, you are constantly creating, ever called to express that which is inside you with no particular care for the outcome or for how it might be received, just an innate need to create. And yet every one of your creations is magical and ellicits joy in the heart of the receiver as they connect to the essence with which it was created. I am so grareful for thus reminder that we can create anything, from the heart. I promise to cherish the gift of creativity.

I could go on and on, listing the many gifts you have given me, for I do believe the list is endless. You are a gift in your very being and I feel so breathtakingly blessed that you chose me as your mother, as your student. Thank you for the gift of you. Thank you for being my greatest teacher of all. Thank you on behalf of myself, and of the world. Thank you, my dear children.