Tell someone what they need to hear {+ Giveaway!}

If you're not a mother yet, you probably won't understand what I'm about to say, if you are, I hope you know exactly what I mean.

Being a mother is such a blessing. Sure, everyone here on this planet is here because of their mother. It's nothing unique, but that doesn't make it any less special.

It's like I've gotten to hit the "reset" button on my life and start it over in a new perspective. I don't mean I'm living my life vicariously through my daughter, I mean I have an excuse to do everything all over again with her. 

From playing with bubbles, and tossing a balloon around the house, to smelling the bluebonnets in a field of wildflowers, or tickling her until she's helpless with laughter (at least once a day); these are the moments I want to remember. Moments I can remember now that I'm older.

They're times she'll probably forget at her young age, but ones I'll capture, cherish, and share with her someday.

Recently Hallmark came to my town to talk to bloggers about our passion for writing and doing what we do. They fed us breakfast and shared their Moments and Milestones and "Tell them" campaign. When they started I was jumping up and down inside going "YES! I do this!" but the longer I was there the more I realized there are a lot more people aside from my daughter who need to know how much they mean to me.

The idea is that everyone has something to hear. For instance, I would like someone to tell me that it's Ok that my house is messy. That their house is messy too and that we all need a break from cleaning every now and then. Is that so much to ask? If someone told me that every day, I'd feel so awesome.

We watched some videos about this campaign and I like a dork, I went home to watch more because they seriously gave me goosebumps. Watch this one! It's super short but if you're sappy like me, it'll hit home.

Awww! That little girl on the diving board asking for you to tell her she can do it. I imagine that being Lil' J years from now looking for me on the sidelines for reassurance.

I think of things I'd like to tell my daughter every day. Things I hope to remember to tell her again and again when she's older and can understand. Every day I capture a moment with her, and I share something about herself, or wisdom I want her to remember on my 365 Moments blog. I'm hoping to print and bind it all in a coffee book for her someday. I'll have to make two.. One for her and one for me. (By the way, you can also upload your own photos on their mosaic, they're picking some to be featured in their magazine.)


I always think of all of the things I want my husband to tell me: Why he loves me, that I'm beautiful, that even though I'm far from a perfect wife, he loves my imperfections. But the men and father's in this video made me stop and think of all of the things he's probably wishing I'd tell him... 
 
That he's a wonderful father, the man of my dreams, and thank you for working long, crazy hours in a pretty darn demanding job to provide for us, that I'm so proud of him. That I pray for him every night, and that I support him no matter what. Sure, I tell him those things. But not enough.

I'm going to try a little harder to tell the people I love what they mean to me, and what they need to hear. I challenge you to do the same. Of course it's great to tell them face to face but that's not always easy or possible. You can send a text message, and email, a letter or a card. If it's hard for you to say things in your own words there are oodles of things Hallmark offers that can help. We were gifted a bag with examples of things like this, like a little rose that opens and closes with a push of a button. On the inside it says "You are the heart of our family." Lil' J claimed it but I helped her share it with Daddy.

We're about halfway through the year but I'm going to make a new resolution to tell someone close to me something they need to hear. Like my mom. Sure, I talk to her about once a week if I'm lucky (I need to do better at this) and she knows I love her, I tell her every time we are hanging up. But oh how much more it would mean to her if it were the first thing I said when she picked up the phone, and not the last.

My best friend needs to know how much I miss her. Because I really do. And my Heaven-sent new friends here in Texas need to know how much of a lifesaver they've been through all of our transitions. And you! People who actually take the time to visit my blog and see what's going on in my life... Emily, who messaged me the other day about my most recent post, another Emily who tweeted me and told me my 30 days plan (in 7 days) worked on her husband too, and everyone else who's ever emailed me about my blog, or left a comment sharing your thoughts, wisdom, laughter, experiences... THANK YOU. I try to write back and tell each of you how much it really and truly means to me that you take the time to not only read, but respond... But I know I've missed far too many of you. I'm going to get better about telling each of you personally what that means to me.

After the even Hallmark wrote to me and said I could do a giveaway for some of the items they treated us to at the event. My favorites were the Blooming Expressions flower I mentioned earlier, and the Christopher Interactive Story Book and Storybuddy. I rekindled the habit and started reading her a story every night (my husband and I alternate) before bed. She LOVES it. We let her pick out a book to read and this one is one of her favorites. She holds the bear while I read the story and at the end of each page he'll add his little two cents. It's so cute! (He also sleeps in her crib now).

Side note!: Speaking of their books, we got a Mommy and Me recordable story book, so she can still hear me read to her while I'm away, and I definitely plan to get one more for my husband to read to her while he's away at work. My heart breaks a little when I'm getting her ready for bed alone after several nights of him being home and she reaches for the door, and says "Daddy?" This way when she makes that request while he's working, she can still have him read her a story. In case you haven't heard of those recordable storybooks you can check them out there! I'll probably make one a part of his Father's Day gift.

Ok, back to the giveaway! Thank you for reading my blog! I'd love to gift one of you with both the Blooming Expressions flower and the Christopher Interactive Story Book and Storybuddy courtesy of Hallmark. I promise you your kiddo would get a kick out of them, and all you have to do is leave a comment letting me know what you want to tell someone (or tell me) or what you'd like someone to tell you!

Make sure you use the rafflecopter widget below(you can't see it from my homepage, you need to click on the title of this post to see it) to mark your entry. Check out the widget to see how you can get extra entries. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway