Dear Somerset Community,
I’ve just returned from a delightful afternoon with one of our Pre-Prep classes, who had invited their mothers and special friends in for afternoon tea to celebrate Mother’s Day. It’s an important day in our calendar, one where we deliberately stop and give thanks for the mothers or other special friends who have been an incredible influence in our lives.
My Mum is in her late 70s. My parents live in Perth, a small town just south of Launceston in Tasmania. My mum has been an important part of my life, not just because of her unconditional love and what she taught me and my brother, but because of the role model she is. I appreciate they were different times decades ago when I was growing up in Tasmania, but the role of my parents, and my Mum in particular was to make sure I had everything I needed to achieve my personal best. If I were to list these off, it would be; I knew I was loved and safe, I was clothed, fed, we were given clear boundaries with appropriate freedom, disciplined when appropriate and we were taught how to live respectfully with others. My recollection is that she didn’t get involved in too much stuff at school, (but she did volunteer and go to every parent-teacher meeting), she didn’t smooth a path for me to make life easier for me when something went wrong and she certainly didn’t believe everything I told her! Mum also shaped our character, she set us chores to do daily (and required that we did them), and we had to save up our pocket money; give some away to help others, save some and spend some.
My wife, Elizabeth and I have four adult children, aged 19 and up and in many ways, we have raised them the same way. Elizabeth’s role in our children’s lives has changed with each stage, but those basics of showing them they are loved, giving them clear boundaries and teaching them what is important hasn’t changed. I would argue being a parent, a mother or a father is the most important role we will ever undertake and the challenges these days are greater, so I simply want to encourage all our Mothers and those special friends who play an important role in the lives of our children. Thank you, because for every child who knows deeply that their Mum (or special friend) loves them, we create a society that has ripples of kindness and humanity into the future.
I acknowledge for some people, Mothers’ Day doesn’t have the same joy or opportunity to celebrate, and we need to be mindful of this. Showing gratitude is such an important part of being human and something I want to encourage our community to continue to both embrace and model. I wish all Mums a wonderful Mother’s Day.
Chris Ivey
Headmaster
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