A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform. - Diane Mariechild

We are currently celebrating woman’s month, with 9 August, Woman’s Day, being a public holiday in South Africa. So today I am here to celebrate each woman that has had an influence on my life, no matter how big or small.

As mothers and women, we constantly strive to perfection. To have the perfect family, be the class mom who is involved with every aspect of her children’s school life, to have a successful career, all the while maintaining our own spiritual, emotional and physical growth.

Finding balance as a mother means accepting your imperfections. —Mary Organizes

As I have grown older and matured, I am starting to accept that it is impossible to excel in all of these areas, but to rather be the best mother, teacher, partner and friend that I am able to be in my own capacity. It is time to celebrate the small victories, not overthink how I feel I might have failed or what I have not achieved, but to learn from these experiences and build upon them. To enrich myself as a person, to take care of myself, to enable me to take care of my loved ones and learners.

Below is my mother, who I still have to admit I’m at scared to death of… but I respect more that any other person in the world, for all of the hardships that she had to face. My extremely intelligent sister on the left, whom I have always found so intimidating, but has achieved more than any other successful female in my life. Our life choices took us in different directions, I am a mother, partner and teacher, she is an optical engineer, driven by career, personal and educational achievements.

These are a few of my gorgeous friends, I have known these ladies for more than 25 years, and they have each had a phenomenal impact into the woman that I am today.

We have a predominantly female school body at our school, with 3 male teachers, who bear with us and support us through thick and thin. These are my incredible female colleagues, my own kids’ teachers. I see how they uplift each of their learners and the effort and love that they selflessly invest in these kids every day.

To celebrate the mothers in my class, I decided to create a heart shaped puzzle, to let each mom know that they are the puzzle piece, holding their family together.

The kids painted their heart shaped puzzles with free reign, I provided the puzzles, glitter, glue, pastels and paint, so that they could put a little bit of themselves and their own creativity into each piece of art.

They then wrote a special message to their moms, to let them know that they are loved and appreciated as women and mothers and to thank them for every sacrifice that they have made for their families.

A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. - Eleanor Roosevelt

I hope you enjoyed my post and keep celebrating and empowering the inspiring, strong women in our lives!