Why My Mum is a Mum In A Million

This is an advertorial.

Nectar and Photobox asked me to share why my Mum rocks as part of their Mum in a Million campaign.

I got lucky when it comes to mums because mine is most definitely a ‘Mum in a Million’ so they picked the right gal because she sure fits the brief.

Mum and I have always been as close as can be but becoming a mother myself has further cemented how flipping incredible she is. How loving, kind, selfless and frankly, brave she was, and still is, today. Always putting her children first yet never losing her sense of self.

My Mum has always been my best friend, my rock, or make that mountain, who has been by side as I met important milestones in childhood and beyond and who was always been there for me in the good and the bad be it going to uni, getting married, failing my driving test 5 times and dealing with a traumatic birth.

Moving to Leeds when my first child was 1, we lived with my family before settling in the city and that time was pretty magical, a chance to be as a larger family unit, feeling loved and supported. It takes a village to raise a baby, and a mama too!

I have a lot to thank my Mama for in every way and genetically too, I’ve taken after her in the creative department, as she has always loved to write and paint.  As a former University Lecturer in English and Sociology, Mum would be the person I’d call to read through my dissertations to at uni, and to offer me honest feedback on the screenplays I’d written when I worked as a screenwriter and filmmaker.

A constant to lean on throughout my life, and the original Honest Mum of course, I always value her truthfulness, her integrity and grace. To be honourable, authentic and above all kind. To be yourself, and true.

I felt this no more so than as a child as Mum, a former teacher, was always fair, sometimes frustratingly so. Other mothers would instantly take their child’s side in squabbles but not my mum. She advocated honestly and decency and discerning right from wrong at all times and led by example. Those values were the foundations upon which mine and my brother’s personalities were built. Thanks to her, I never find it difficult to admit when I make mistakes and I always apologise when I’m in the wrong. Thanks Mum.

I also distinctly remember how mum would make it clear that my brother and I were not the best, nor could we be but that we must simply try our best, to be ourselves and enjoy the journey. We grew up knowing that there would always be more successful, smarter, better looking and richer people than we were, and that, that was OK.

Vitally, she taught me to trust my gut, my instinct on everything in life, when it came to boyfriends, my now husband, jobs, birth and beyond. It’s never let me down. Nor has she.

Work-wise, Mum has always made me push myself out of my comfort zone and she’s also predicted a lot of my career. I remember wanting to be an actress as a teen and her encouraging me to direct, to take my love of filming and make that my career, which I did, after gaining a distinction in my directing MA at 21.

Later, when I started this blog, she would often say that I should write a book. Late last year, I got a book deal.

When you have others rooting for you, those who love you, cheering you on, wanting the best for you, you become fearless and more proactive because you believe in yourself.

My mama helped me feel more confident, and still does, even when I waver and worry I’m not good enough.

She instilled in me, the importance of dreaming big, that anything was possible, firstly through education and then hard work and sheer tenacity. A proud feminist, she pinned a badge on to my coat when I was two which read, ‘Women together are strong’ and her ideologies live on in me, through my collaborative work and close friendships with friends and colleagues and how I see the world. Mum was my blueprint for all the bonds that came after.

Mum is the matriarch of our family: the one who allows us to know our bearings and to find them when they’re lost.

We have such a special relationship, so much so that when we arranged my second wedding, my Greek Wedding (the first was in South Africa) the florist remarked how she’d never known a mother and daughter to agree on everything, like we did. We share the same style and knew exactly how collectively wanted the wedding to look and feel (the groom didn’t get a look in-ha).

The lead up to the wedding was a magical mother-daughter bodning time I’ll always treasure, particularly the visits to Paris where I had wedding dress fittings at La Galleries La Fayette and weekends were spent dining in bistros, visiting art galleries and shopping.

As a thank you to my Mama for literally everything she’s ever done and continues to do, for me and her entire family, I’ve selected the photo above from when my auntie Zak, her sister, came to visit us in Yorkshire from Marbella where she lives. It marks a happy time before we headed out for dinner at one of my parents’ restaurants, and features her first grandson, my boy, Oliver too who she loves like her own. Her radiant smile encapsulates what a loving mum she is and how she lights up the room she’s in.

To order the canvas and pay using Nectar points you need to link your accounts and then follow the instructions here: https://www.nectar.com/ways-to-redeem/rewards/photobox

Quick and simple with a gorgeous product which arrived in just days.

Do consider it for this Mother’s Day yourself and go enter Nectar and Photobox’s competition to win great prizes, posting your favourite photo of you with your mum on Instagram, telling us why she’s a #MumInAMillion. Don’t forget to tag @Nectar and @Photobox and include the hashtag #MumInAMillion.

Good luck!

This is a commissioned post.

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