Mother’s Day. Every Day.

Caregiver, role model, instructor, nurse, problem solver, peacemaker, scheduler, chef and shoulder to lean on. These are just a few of the roles mothers and mother figures play. Mother’s Day is a day for all of us to celebrate the mothers in our lives and the many roles they play, and to renew the commitment to make this special day occur much more often than just once a year.

Mother’s Day is also an opportunity for mothers and mother figures to pause to reflect on what an amazing and life-changing experience raising children can be—and the wide variety of emotions that punctuate daily life.

Being a mother is rewarding and fulfilling yet can also be demanding, challenging and stressful. Mothers can sometimes feel they are expected to have all the answers, balance multiple demands and schedules, work, find time for their partner AND raise happy, resilient kids – often intuitively and without any additional support or resources. 

However, the reality is that every mom can use a helping hand. While no one has yet developed a comprehensive instruction manual, positive parenting strategies can help. Here are a few tips to consider as we celebrate Mother’s Day:

Take care of yourself. At times, this idea can seem like a cliché or impossible to find the time to make it work. But taking time for yourself and looking after your own needs—both big ones and little ones—is essential. Everyone needs to have a balanced life. For most mothers, balancing the various roles (including the ones not directly related to being a mother) can be exhausting and stressful. Find time on a regular, scheduled basis to indulge in something you like and that feeds your physical, mental, emotional or spiritual needs. This could be as simple as sharing a coffee with a friend, going for a short walk around the block or simply taking a half hour to read the paper. You’d be surprised at how effective a simple break can be, leaving you recharged and ready to meet the day’s challenges and opportunities.

Work as a team with your partner. Family life runs more smoothly when parenting tasks are divided and family and caregivers work together as a team. Talk with your partner about what you need and ways that you can offer each other practical and emotional support.

Learn new ways to manage daily routines. Be on the lookout for ways to simplify and streamline your daily routine. Doing so will help reduce stress and can help create more time in the day that can be dedicated to other priorities. Plus, children like consistent routines. For example, have your children wake at the same time and follow the same routine each day while getting ready. This helps your children learn what to expect, which can reduce the chance of unforeseen problems, and therefore reduces your stress.

Teach children the skills they need to be independent individuals. Have your children actively participate in the family’s daily routines. Teach them the steps involved in tasks such as putting away toys, making their beds, cleaning their rooms or making their own school lunches. Give them descriptive praise and encouragement as they learn to do these tasks on their own. Not only does this help children learn valuable skills they will use throughout life, it will help you gain greater balance in your daily workload as a mother.

It’s not surprising that motherhood is often said to be both the most rewarding and most challenging job of all. Positive parenting in many ways aims to help uncover the rewards and manage the challenges by providing strategies and tips to build better relationships with children, be better co-parents and partners, and become more confident as a parent.

Here’s to a happy Mother’s Day 2013—and the collective effort to make every day Mother’s Day!