Mother of the Year Award

This year Walmart is launching the Mom of the Year Award to help celebrate and recognize the huge contribution moms make as role models and integral members of the family and community.  This award will become an annual program to celebrate all that Mom does and shine a light on what is important to her.
Nominations will be accepted Mother’s Day (May 13) through July 8, 2012 and can be submitted through www.momoftheyear.ca.

Eight finalists will be selected and notified in mid-August and will be treated to an award celebration weekend in September. The Mom of the Year Award recipient will receive $10,000 for personal use and $100,000 to their cause or charity of choice. The remaining seven finalists will each receive $10,000 for personal use and $10,000 to their cause or charity of choice.

Of course, with this announcements comes the question of who would I choose to nominate for Mother of the Year.  Obviously, I’d love to nominate my own mother as it’d be wonderful for her to see how much we really do appreciate her but no… I feel that this Award should go to someone who could really benefit from such a prize not just financially but also mentally.  Let’s face it mother’s all work hard but some of us need that extra little bit of encouragement to keep us going. After all, we are our own worse critics and tend to worry constantly whether we’re doing anything right at all.

So when I cast my mind among the moms I knew both in real life and in the bloggy world, it came down to just one.

Faemom, mother to three extremely active and imaginative little boys, inventor of the “penis rules”.   Recently separated from her husband, she’s had to adjust this past year to being a single parent to three small boys and all that doing it on your own entails.  She’s had to go to battle with a bout of skin cancer (on her forehead I might add) and rally around her mom who was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Not only does she strive to nurture her three boys through some pretty tough adjustments, she also tries to take a step back and let her boys be boys and learn some lessons on their own.  She encourages them in their creativity from wearing blue-and-white-checkered, long-sleeve, button-up shirt and blue-orange-black plaid shorts to speaking their language in all things Star Wars.  Who else would have created the Death Star Sandwich or tried to use Jedi Mind  Tricks on their kids?

One of the many things that I love about Faemom is that she cares about other moms. She not only sees their frustrations but offers sympathy and understanding and lets them know they are not alone and it will get better.  I don’t know about you, but I would have appreciated if a mom had done that for me when my toddler had a meltdown on the school playground.  I may not know her in real life but I wish I did.  It's unfortunate that Faemom doesn't qualify to be nominated since she lives in the U.S. and isn't eligible for the award but she would be my choice.

Who would you nominate?

Zeemaid

Disclosure: I’m part of the Walmart program by Mom Central. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own. Mom of the Year Award: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY Internet access and valid email account required. Nominations open May 10, 2012 to July 8, 2012 for legal residents of Canada over the age of majority.  Entrants cannot nominate themselves. One (1) grand prize available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $100,000 donation by Wal-mart Canada Corp. to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000). Seven (7) runner-up prizes available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $10,000 donation to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000).  Charity/cause subject to verification and final approval by Wal-mart Canada Corp., at its sole discretion. Odds of winning depend on how the judging panel evaluates each entry according to the criteria. For Official Contest Rules and to nominate an entrant, visit [www.momoftheyear.ca].