Hello everyone! Today's post is inspired by another Mama Kat's writing prompt: "List 6 things you do as a parent that you swore you would never do"
Of course, as you may already know, I don't have any kids, so this prompt seemed like a challenge to me. What if I write 6 things that I think it's not good at all to do to a child, now, that I'm still ....childless, and come back to this promise-post in the future, when and if I ever will be blessed to have a kid of my own...
Let's go then! Things I'll never do to my kids are mostly things that bothered me as a child, things that made me feel bad, overwhelmed me or discouraged me in any way:
1)I'll never "stick" to my child's imperfections. (Oh, my God, it seems difficcult, already!!!)
If big ears, big nose, or short or fat legs, ...or whatever that may look weird is on the way....I will accept it and shall not let any annoyment appear ever. Kids understand everything and have so many insecurities themselves that the last thing they need is one more confirmation of their deficiencies from their own parent. Everyone has some gifts, why not stick to them instead?
2)I'll never compare my kid to any other kid.
"My first kid is so clever, but the little one has to stydy twice as much to catch up....", "other kids manage everything and you don't even....", "Mary is so good at..., why don't you....",... all these comparisons are so unnecessary! Every kid is unique having its very own personality and we shouldn't expect the same things from all of them. If it's not good enough at one thing, it will definitely be great at something else and that's what we should admire and compliment.
3)I'll never discourage my kid from doing something he or she really likes, just because that's not one of my preferences.
We're different persons from our kids and we may like different things. It may be difficult to accept that one, but it's fair not to mock or underestimate my kid's desires.
4)I'll never depress my kids to do something they don't want in order to satisfy any unrealized dream of mine.
That's the most unfair thing of all! Any human being has its very own dreams, hopes and desires and we must help our kids to live theirs instead of exchanging them with ours!
5)I'll never allow my kids imposing their own rules at home.
Kids have their royalties, but they should learn that people have obligations in real life as well! The sooner they learn this one, the better! And regarding home, parents are the boss. Mom and dad set the rules. They decide what kids are eating, when they're sleeping, when and how long they're studying, playing, watcing T.V., surfing the internet... they decide everything that has to do with their kids' daily routine. That's really important not only for parents health, but especially for children, so that they'll become responsible adults and not spoiled ones... Kids also feel more secure when they follow a program rather than being totally disorganized.
6)I'll never despise my kid's needs.
Personal life, work and hobbies are all very important in a human's life, but when you become a parent I guess your kid is the most important thing in the world. Being a parent means setting any ego aside and stop yourself from being the centre of the universe. Your first priority becomes your kid, as if your heart was beating out of your body...
I don't know how difficult it would be to accomplish these promises under the pressure of daily life, in the real world... I'm pretty sure all parents have made similar promises before they become parents and violated each one of them feeling extremely quilty..., but then, who is perfect? It's helpful to have some principals in mind anyway, to help you lead the long journey of motherhood...
Well, lastly, I promise I'll come back to this post some day, to remind myself of what I've once said, or reconsider and I'll probably surprise myself or just laugh at me... who knows? "Rendez-vous" in future!    

Written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Thank you  so much for reading!
Love you all,
xoxo Elena

There are so many things that remind me of my mother. Everything I am I owe it to her. I can see her in myself. I am a piece of her, she created me just like she did with so many wonderful things in her life! What's not to remember from her?
Mama Kat's suggestion to write about a smell that makes me think of my mother restricted those memories to a particular field: smells.
My mom was a strong woman. She could manage work, home, kids, husband, elderly parents, social commitments and did everything right. As a kid I may didn't realize her sacrificies exactly, but I did listened people's praises. And I admired her for all her achievements! I was proud of my mom! Only thinking about what she had done now that I'm an adult, I believe she was a heroine, a real angel...
The remarkable thing is that she was coping with her life without losing the female side of her. I believe it was in her genes!
She didn't spend much time in her appearance, but she was always neat and feminine with a great taste in clothes, she had great taste in everything actually. Her outfits, chic and elegant, consisted of classic pieces, some of them at the best quality she could buy. My mom knew how to dress up!
She never used make up on her face, her vibrant, porcelain clear complexion didn't need any coverage. Unfortunately I didn't inherited her beautiful skin, but the yellowish, dull and greasy skin my dad has... The only make up interference on mom's face was her brown-coral lipstic when she was dressing up, on formal occasions or at church. And her hair was always done, she visited the  hairdresser's every Saturday early morning! A woman always looks extra prim when her hair is done and mom seemed to knew that very well.
I know the post is about a smell, but when it comes to mom, I can't resist the chatter... After all the smell that reminds me of her is inseparably attached to her looks and I could no way divide those two.
The last move before stepping outside the door was always her unforgetable perfume: "miss Arpels", by Van Cleef and Arpels
Light, sweet, elegant, flowery, distinguishing was the last sense I had from her while she was walking to the door. Natural and beautiful, but so interesting, like her, miss Arpels was following her movement. And it felt wonderful, spirit lifting and happy!
Her perfume was everywhere, but what is mostly engraved in my memory is the perfume on her foulards which were hanging in our hallway! I'll never forget that feeling! Foulards are to me the ultimate symbol of  femininity and elegance and when they're perfumed with a woman's personal scent it's an irresistable combination! Mom was a real woman! The softness of the foulards and the smell of roses which characterized "miss Arpels" felt like mom...
I kept her last bottle which is half full, yet, because I want to see it. One of the reasons mom kept buying this perfume, besides its beautiful smell, was the shape of its bottle! Asymmetric and particular, mom was impressed by extraordinary and unusual things.
So, that's the story of mom's favorite perfume which became my favorite smell, because it belonged to my most favorite person..
Love you mom...

Thank you so much for stopping by
love you all,
xoxo, Elena

Written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Lost. I'm pretty familiar with this word, as most people do, I believe... Life itself is a series of repeated losses: first we lose our childhood when we believe we are immortal, then the wonderfully weird teenage years when life is still very, very long and we have infinite time to make all of our dreams come true, we can undoubtedly rule the world at one time and become completely worthless the very next one, then our youth when we actually can and should make most of our dreams come true, middle age when we have the maturity to be satisfied with what we've achieved and enjoy it while we still have the time for more even better accomplishments, elderly when our precious life experience makes us stronger, wiser and why not, happier.... and the list goes on.... and on...
As we grow up we lose a period of our life, so we can  step to the next wonderful one! Each loss is a small funeral letting us feel sad, but, at the same time is prerequisite, if we want to walk to the next chapter of our life. We have to let go of something old in order to walk to something new , that's the  natural process. Grown ups who behave as children or teenagers... is a real problem not only to the people around them, but to themselves mainly. Isn't that more sad than natural loss of our younger age?...
So loss isn't necessary something bad, as it may sounds... Of course there are lost oppportunities, lost things precious to us, lost friendships or relationships that really mattered, lost pets... All these definetely hurt more or less, but then... on second thought, isn't everything happening for a reason? Time is usually verifying in such situations.
Yet, the greatest loss is the loss of our beloved ones. I lost my first grandparent when I was nine and the last one at 21. It hurt. But I accepted it and got over it, pretty quickly, as I can remember. I still had my parents, my family, my friends... and I was so young!
But losing my dear mother a few years ago... I never accepted that one and I never will. Until the time we, hopefully, meet again she will always be around me, in my mind, in my heart. I lost the earth under my feet when she left us. I believed that would never happen to my mom. She was a beautiful, wonderful, kind woman... she was everything to me! Losing her I lost myself as well... I became a new person. A person without a mom being there all the time willing to give me the right advice, to make me feel better, to give me a love hug... oh God, what I miss most is her warm hug and her beautiful smile...irreplaceable...
A new period had begun for me. As if I had lived the "with mom " period and now switched to  "without mom" or "after mom" period when I have to be stronger, indepedent... adult, I'm not a kid anymore since mom is not here. I have full responsibility for my life and I have to have a life, a new life, to write my very own story in this worldbook just the way she did so amazingly...
My whole priorities changed after mom's gone. I looked at things in a different way.  I didn't worry so much for small things, even the bigger ones... I first realized that life is really too short to deal with anything that doesn't really matters to me. I had become my first priority!
Life gave me a huge slap taking my dearest person away from me maybe because someone wanted to teach me something. And I sure took my lesson!
The last thing I wanted is make you feel sad about this story, after all my blog has to do with the beautiful things in life. I just wanted to remind you that you have to enjoy all the beauty around you with all your senses, at any age, under any circumstances, because that's what life is all about! We all lose something every now and then, but something new and wonderful is just around the corner!

Thanks a lot you stopped by and excuse my English,
I'm trying really hard to write properly, but I'll always think the Greek way I guess...
love you all,
xoxo Elena

Written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop