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Resilient Mom
Catherine Hilling, California USA
From Amazing Moms: Parents of the 21st Century Copyright © 2018 Motivational Press. Reprinted with permission. By Hogan Hilling and Elise Cohen Ho.
Amazing Moms: Parents of the 21st Century is the 1st coffee table book to feature moms. It features 115 amazing moms from a variety of family dynamics and 13 countries – USA, Canada, Australia, England, Netherlands, France, Italy, China, Hungary, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Mozambique, and Croatia. It is filled with captivating self-portraits that reveal each mom’s unique personality and joyful photos of their families. The moms bear their souls about the challenges and joys of motherhood and share a wealth of wisdom about their parenting journeys. These moms represent motherhood and femininity at its best. Amazing Moms is the companion coffee table book to DADLY Dads.
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I’m a mom of two boys Andrew, 23 and Matthew, 18. I’m also a Certified Nurse Assistant. I was born with congenital hearing loss and learned sign language and how to read lips. In 2016, thanks to the House Institute in Los Angeles I received a cochlear implant. The surgery was a success and improved my hearing immensely. It feels great to hear the sounds of life I never heard before and to engage in conversations without relying on my hearing aid and reading lips.
One of the significant highlights was hearing the sound of a kiss from my fiancé. I am engaged to marry in September 2017 to Hogan Hilling, co-author of this book. I love nature, the beach, and mountains; and enjoy walking, hiking and riding my bike.
Quote.
Never complain, Never explain. – Henry Ford II
What I do well as a Mom.
I support my sons’ hobbies and interests and make time to learn about them. I also do a good job of sharing my children’s time with their dad, who I divorced in 2004. I’m also good about not pressuring myself to be a 24/7 parent or feeling guilty about giving myself well-deserved “me” time.
What I Learned From Another Mom
After my second son was born, I tried to create a consistent eating and sleeping schedule for him. But all I did was upset myself. I called my sister and cried as I told her about how the schedule wasn’t working for my son or me.
She said I didn’t need to put him on a schedule, just to feed him when he was hungry and let him sleep when he was tired. Her advice worked and helped me get through a tough time.
Lesson learned from my child.
I was so busy trying my best to raise and discipline my two sons that I forgot they are human too. My kids taught me to stop and listen to what they had to say because sometimes they also need an open ear.
Successful motherhood moment.
After a Friday night date my oldest son, Andrew asked me for advice about dating. He asked me what he should write in a text to his date. I suggested he ask her if she’d like to get together after Thanksgiving. He replied, “Thank you, mom. You’re the best!”
Mom I admire.
My mom, Pat MacGuire. She raised seven children and never favored one child over the other. Nor did she treat any of us worse than the other. She had a calm, friendly personality and through her actions taught us how to not worry about things we couldn’t control and to enjoy life. I also admire her patience and the family values she modeled for us.
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Originally published in Amazing Moms: Parents of the 21st Century Copyright © 2018 Motivational Press. Reprinted with permission.
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Photos courtesy of the author.
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