10 Things I Learned From My Mum

Everyone needs a strong role model in their life and for me, that's my mum. The lady who raised my brother, my sister and me pretty much single-handedly, all whilst going through a lot of sh*t herself. She's bloody amazing.

A huge amount of what I know about being an adult, my values and general attitude to life, I learned from Mum. She's been such an influence on me, and so in honour of one of my favourite people in the whole world on Mother's Day, here are all the things I learned from Mum.

1. How to cook
I'd have had NO CHANCE once I'd moved out if it wasn't for Mum. The year before I went to uni, she bought me a student cookbook and got me to cook at home once a week. She also got me a slow-cooker, which was an absolute life saver. I'd still be on beans on toast and oven chips if it wasn't for her!

2. How to check my tyre pressure
I didn't even know this was a thing until about six months into owning a car. I was whinging to her that it wasn't driving right. She took one look at me tyres, raised her eyebrow at me (the 'Mum look', when you're know you're in trouble without her even saying anything), and took me straight to Morrison's to show me how to do it. Yes, I was 24 years old at the time. I didn't know, okay!

3. How to make a decent cuppa
The most important life skill of them all.

4. How to talk openly about mental health
When we were growing up, Mum always talked about mental health. It was obviously very simplified and child-friendly, as in 'sometimes people feel sad or cry and they don't really know why, but that's normal and people can help'. And she always encouraged us to talk openly to her about how we're feeling. So when I started to suffer with depression and anxiety when I was 20, I didn't worry at all about telling Mum how I was feeling. And because I could talk about it so openly at home, I can still talk about my ongoing struggle with anxiety now.

5. How to put make-up on
I remember the first time Mum showed me how to put make up on so clearly. I think I was 11 or 12, absolutely bawling my eyes out about having to go to school with an enormous spot on my forehead. (I was clearly very much struggling with puberty at this point!) Mum took her Avon foundation, and showed me how to dab a tiny bit onto the spot and blend it out. Ta-da! I felt so much between, went to school without whinging, and so began a long-standing love affair with all things make up.

6. Family is everything
I definitely get my family-orientated attitude from Mum. Growing up, it was the four of us against the world and we tackled every hurdle, every tough situation together. And we still do. We all know that we'll always have each other no matter what happens, and we always make each other first priority.

7. Never settle!
Mum's such an amazing example of this. She was single for 15 years before meeting my stepdad, and when we used to tease her for being too fussy, she'd just smile and say that there's no point settling for something that isn't 100% right. Which is advice I haven't always taken advantage of in the past! But she's so right.

8. How to talk about... ahem... the 'S' word...
It was always the rule in our household that you could go to Mum with any sex or relationship related questions or worries without judgement. And she genuinely meant that. So while some people wouldn't dare mention the 's' word around their parents, I was very lucky that I could. Mum still laughs now, because I used to speak to her about boys/sex at 14 or 15 and then say 'Okay, this conversation never happened!' and carry on with my day.

9. ... But watching sex scenes in films whilst sat next to her will never not be awkward 
There's some lines you just can't cross

10. You don't need two parents to feel whole

Love,
Sian xo