I may not be the best mom to ask here, as I’d take breakfast in bed, handmade cards, foot rubs and hugs over material prezzies any day. But if receiving gifts is the mumma in your life’s love language, than here is a little curation from one outdoorsy ma to another. 

Real-life mom connections

First off, I am slightly obsessed with the ethos and call to community of this outdoorsy, quirky n’ cool ma’s creation of The Mothership Collective. Her merch is on point, and something I’ll personally be asking for this mother’s day. ‘Rally the Village’ is a month-long, community-led series of events happening all May—designed to help women connect in real life, a chance to find your own outdoorsy mom crew. Local meetups are happening worldwide, including one from, ahem, yours truly, on March 24th in the Sea to Sky. Check here to see if there’s anything happening near you. 

Next up, 🌞 sunshine stuff..

The turning of seasons calls for summer sandals, shorts and sunnies. Here are some that I sport and can 100% recommend. 

Sandals

I’ve been wearing these since the temps have started to rise, and can whole heartedly recommend them for short hikes, park visits, kid pickups, gardening, errand running, beach going, all the things. Lem’s Women’s Switchback Sandal Knit have a breathable knit upper that provides serious immediate comfort, no break-in time required for these bad boys. The barefoot inspired footbed, made to mimic the contours of your feet are also full on comfort, and the wide, more natural toe box works well for my yogi surf toes.

Sunnies

I can’t praise Ombraz armless sunglasses enough. These have revolutionized my sunny days, they have changed my life. For real.

The strap in place of arms is ingenious for 2 main reasons.

1. Headaches be-gone! I often find I get temple pain/headaches when wearing sunglasses, and these completely eliminate that feeling. They feel so light, my head feels zero pressure whatsoever.

2. The convenience. When dusk hits, or you go inside, or you’re in the deep dark woods, you can just let the sunglasses hang from your neck rather than having to stop and put them away, or wear them on top of your head and forget where you put them. I’ve golfed, hiked, snowboarded, toddled with toddlers, and have simply frolicked around town with these, without ever misplacing them or having to slow what I’m doing.

The lens are also amazing, mine in particular are polarized brown, the colours pop and I feel the brown tint makes the world extra cheery rather than dulling it out. The also have non-polarized, photochromic, low light and prescription lenses.

Side note: I was fortunate enough to receive my pair as a hand-me-down from my partner, as he, unfortunate for him, was blessed with uber long eyelashes that reach the lens when he blinks. Not a bad problem to have I suppose, but if you find yourself with the same blessing, head’s up. 

Shorts

Okay, well these aren’t shorts, cus shorts won’t cut it in the garden. These are something I’ve coveted for quite some time, so I decided to snatch them up when they went on sale. Made with 100% Regenerative Organic Certified® cotton canvas, Patagonia’s Women’s Point Reyes Canvas Overalls hold up. The blackberry brambles that usually stab me through anything I’m wearing stand no chance wearing these puppies. I’ll be wearing these all summer tending to our garden, may even sport them in my pottery classes.

Time to get sentimental

To help dad’s and kiddos that want to invoke your own creativity, and you want the mama in your life to feel seen and loved for who she truly is, a little thought goes a long way.

If you don’t already know, figure out her love language(s). Get to know her and understand her more deeply. This will be what truly gets to her heart this mother’s day and all the mother’s day’s to come.  

Love languages. Here they are. 

Physical tough: Gift her a massage, rub her feet. Braid her hair.  

Acts of service: Do the breakfast in bed thing, then the lunch, then the dinner. Make things easy for her so she doesn’t have to think or make any decisions today. Clean the house, organize the toys, wash the car. Plan the hike or the adventure.

Receiving gifts: As mentioned above, but the gifts can also be homemade, art, crafts cards. Flowers picked from the garden. I’d be happy with dandelions and grass if it came from my kids, get them involved, it’ll be fun! Perhaps an outting, she may like to go out for a nice mother’s day brunch? A picnic at the beach?

Words of affirmation: Tell her what makes her such a great mom. Recognize the work she puts in everyday, and let her know how much you appreciate it. Like really tell her. Write this in your homemade card, send it in a text, tell her as you massage her tight shoulders, doesn’t matter how, just make sure she knows the depth of your appreciation and love. And she may already know this, but it never hurts to hear it again and again for this love language queen.

Quality time: The bottom line of our little outdoor adventure blog. If we could see time as our most precious resource, we would be more meaningful in all our decisions and what we do with our remaining days. Spend real quality time together. Turn off your phones and get outside. Go for a hike, rain or shine. Do what she loves, maybe it’s climbing, swimming, running? And you know what she may really love? Not only quality time together, but quality time on her own. Give her the gift of time to herself, time to fill up her cup, then gather around afterwards with family quality time once she’s had her moment.

From one mom to another, I hope you/she has a wonderful day celebrating all that you do in raising the next generation to help make this world a more loving and accepting place.

xoxo