Mother’s Day in Quarantine + Books About Motherhood Year 2

“At every birth, two people are born: a baby and a mother.”

–Unknown

If you asked me last year if I thought I’d be celebrating Mother’s Day at home again, I would have said no. I was too optimistic back then. The country has not really moved forward with any sustainable plans to deal with the pandemic on a national scale, and things are as bad as it was, maybe even worse. Metro Manila is always in some form of quarantine and it’s getting harder to keep track of the acronyms (ECQ, GCQ, MECQ, MGCQ, EECQ, etc.). I am thankful that at least my mom has gotten her first dose of the vaccine this week. Who knows, next year maybe we could be celebrating together again?

Despite not being able to see my mom, this year’s Mother’s Day was not bad at all. In fact, it’s one for the books! First off are the gifts from friends and family: the above photo is a preserved dandelion arrangement gifted to me by my dearest friend Ally—unlimited wishes! Even without saying it, I feel like the people closest to me can tell that I am currently obsessing with leaves and greens. I have also been thinking of starting to take care of live plants again. Then last Sunday, my in-laws very kindly gifted me with a portulaca plant. Portulaca is very pretty and very easy to take care of so it’s perfect for a busy mom like me.

This also made me decide to finally buy myself a trailing pothos plant. I’m a bit shy to share a photo right now because it’s still a baby, but I will show you as soon as it thrives in its new home. Pothos is a kind of houseplant that is almost effortless to grow. I learned about it first from one of my favorite blogs Markus and Micah (follow them for great plants, lifestyle, travel, and other awesome content!) I think two plants is perfect for a beginner. I’m so excited to see my new babies grow.

My husband gave me the best gift of course: free rein to order things online. Ha ha. I chose to order a sushi platter. I never order sushi at home even though I love it because my husband doesn’t eat them, so I thought it was the perfect “selfish” choice for that special day. And yes I ordered books, too! I will share the book haul when they arrive.

Lastly, the highlight of Mother’s Day celebration is this feature by my favorite bookstore Fully Booked. I love being asked for book recommendations, and I’m only too happy to share some of my favorite books about motherhood in this interview.

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You can read the full feature here. Just to be in the same page with celebrity moms that I look up to makes me so kilig 💗

My recommendations from last year can be read here. I honestly thought I picked unique titles to recommend this year but I included Big Little Lies again. Oops!

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Being a mom is the toughest role I’ve ever taken. I feel like I’m losing my mind and my sense of self on some days. If I knew how hard being a mom was really going to be, I probably wouldn’t have chosen this path, but since I also know now how much love and joy there is, I know I wouldn’t change a thing. So be kind to your moms, okay? We often see them as pillars of strength and tend to forget they are humans with weaknesses, too. Show your appreciation everyday. Because honestly, we don’t need grand gestures. Just to feel our children’s presence in our life is enough.

Hope you all had a meaningful Mother’s Day with your moms and mom figures! I’ll leave you here with a snapshot of our cutie.

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