They say Motherhood is rewarding, so where's the reward?
It’s here!!
The Real Mum of the Year Award is the World’s only Award where “normal” Mums are rewarded for doing what they do every day – being Mum!
It’s not about the Mum who has sacrificed the most for her children, nor the most brilliant of Super Mums – it’s about the most regular of Mums, the ones who make the rest of us feel normal, and that we’re not the only one who things don’t go all that smoothly for.
Real Mum of the Year Award 2010 Finalists are ...
in no particular order ...
Stephanie Spencer of South Australia ... who was not only forced to endure a tantrum from a child after her sibling stole a ring from her, and subsequently rescuing the ring from the vice-like grip of poo in the toilet, but then have her own tantrum after upset child decided she no longer wanted the ring.
The clincher for us, however, was her very Real Mum like reaction to discovering a rather large spider on her head, whereby she inadvertently dropped the baby and flicked the spider at another child. Nice. We probably would have thrown the baby at the child, and followed it up with the spider before running screaming from the room
She did well.
Jodi Gibson of Victoria ... her third year running as a finalist and who's efforts this year include sipping champagne in a friend's pool house whilst her daughter was off at school, falling off monkey bars, breaking an arm and filling in the details for the ambulance officer while being whisked off to the Children's Hospital.
She now utilises the pain her daughter endured during arm breakage, using the age old "do you want me to give you something that really hurts?" when crying ensues for no particular reason. Now, due to actually experiencing "really hurts' pain, she's upped the anti and asks if her daughter would like something that "really really hurts".
She endures the supervision and participation in craft projects until they end up in tears and tantrums. Always hers, never the kids'.
Britt O'Meara of Victoria ... who was having a particularly bad day the day her nomination was received, putting up with a usually white coffee, without the milk. Margarine on bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner is a staple.
We believe the unwillingness to head to the supermarket is a result of leaving her five year old there once and only noticing when he didn't respond to her repeated questioning. But when do they ever?
Mostly, we are impressed by the fact that, in her other role as Teacher, she looked down and noticed her underpants lying on the classroom floor. And not the nice, frilly ones either. What we were most impressed about with that is not that they fell out of the leg of her pants, like has happened to many of us at one time or another, but that they fell out of the hood of her jacket!
Norlin Mustapha of Victoria ... she has made some fairly decent sacrifices for her children, including using her good perfume on their school uniforms because they'd run out of uniforms to wear to school.
She also is vigilant in teaching her kids to do the right thing, where once, upon leaving the house after threatening to do so, she rang them, then told them off for answering the phone when she wasn't there. A fabulous example of carrying through with what you say you'll do, too.
Following through with learning through expereince, and a particular favourite of Mad Cow's, as she has done similar, is giving into their nagging about having a chocolate milk when there was no chocolate powder in the house to be had. Whipping up a choc milk for each of them, using cocoa poweder and no sweetener soon had them begging her not to do it again.
... and finally ...
Candy Jubb of New South Wales ... a mother to seven, but that's not why she is selected as finalist. She is the very epitomy of Real Mum, doing school dropoffs with Nutella on her face, talc powder hands on the bum of her jeans, and snot on the shoulder. The trifecta.
She is resourceful, having her daughter wear her son's underwear, tells the teachers the kids dressed themselves (or that her hubby dressed them!) and once pretended to be the babysitter. Who hasn't done that?!
She uses the standard "you must be so busy" comments to get out of canteen lady duty. If people are going to give her the excuse, why not take it?
Congratulations to all our Finalists who will be presented with their most deserved Medal and the winner announced at Mums' Night Out! on May 14th 2010
The 2009 Real Mum of the Year Award was presented at Mums' Night Out! on Friday the 8th of May 2009.
Our Real Mum 2009 is Simone Hudson of Victoria - wife and mother two two children, a girl aged 7 and boy aged 5, both providiing Simone with plenty of "challenges" (disorders or disabilities if you prefer).
That's not why Simone is our Real Mum of the Year, however. Despite her day to day challenges, Simone manages to remain very real, honest, open and can have a good chuckle at herself on occasion. Better still, when her nomination forms came rolling in, we had a great chuckle.
A recent whinge had us concerned, when she expressed how frustrating her daughter was “She whines and answers back and yells at me. She still gets pot in the corner …” We’re pretty sure this is a typo ...
Her greatest piece of advise to other mums would be to check labels on packaging, with the light on, prior to use. After using hairspray as a deodorant for several days, she was mildly suprised to find it works quite well.
And yet, with all she has on her plate, she still finds the time to ensure the health of the family is looked after. Following recommended dietary guidelines, which suggest the more colour on the plate the more nutritious the meal, she managed to make the breakfast of champions for herself and her kids one morning. Fairy bread, I believe, was the order of the day …
We all deserve a medal for doing what we do, now here is your opportunity to get yours. If you or someone you know is deserving of such an Award, stay tuned.
Nominations for the 2010 Real Mum of the Year Award are now CLOSED
Will you be Australia's next Real Mum of the Year?