Mother’s Day is a time to recognize the women in our lives who teach, guide, support and drive each of us to become positive members of society.

I spent my marriage not celebrating Mother’s Day, at least not for myself. I was told, without fail, year after  year (by my former husband) “You are not my mother.”

It was not meant in a spiteful way per se. He just did not comprehend that he was supposed to honor me—he viewed Mother’s Day as a day to celebrate his mother. He did not grasp that being the mother of his children was of value as well.

Every year Mother’s Day would come and the kids would make me wonderful items in school. They heard their friends discussing the places they were taking their moms and they did not understand why we did not go to dinner or buy gifts. This left my children feeling hollow. They felt they should do something, and wanted to do anything to show they loved and valued me. This was not an issue of money. It was an issue of lack of awareness. It caused anxiety for my them, and they still have a sense of negative emotion tied to this holiday.

This is my first Mother’s Day divorced, and I am changing this pattern. For myself and my children.

We are celebrating and we are celebrating big.

As a sort of new, single parent, I did not want my children to feel stressed to create a day for me. I decided this year to honor not only myself but the other families in the community. To teach my children that we can create something that is for more than just me.

This morning I had an epiphany of sorts: to gift my community with Mother’s Day Yoga. But how? In the course of a few hours I, very last minute, created an event for Sunday that myself and my children can be proud of being part of. Four free yoga classes in Boulder—one for parents and one for children—at each time slot.

We are celebrating all families of all shapes and sizes this year with these classes taught by my beautiful friends. I will be adding an additional memory to participants in the yoga classes by photographing the families and gifting them an image of their day together.

My gift to myself this year is teaching my children to give back. My gift to my children is showing them it is not about tangible purchases.

My gift to the community is showing you:  I value you.