When it comes down to it, what we all want for our children is just two things – for them to be healthy and happy.
So when Martha Comerford from Ashbourne in Co. Meath learned that her daughter Ailbhe, 13, was having a bit of a tough time at school a couple of years back, she came up with a beautiful – and creative – way to cheer her up.
The mum-of-two (Ailbhe also has a younger sister, Sophie, 10) started drawing little illustrations and fully observations on napkins and tucking them into her daughter’s lunchbox every morning – for her to find when she went to eat her food at break time.
Every morning, my wife draws on our daughter’s lunchbox napkin to give her a smile in school #marthasnapkins pic.twitter.com/IQQjjX8QtS
— Martha’s Napkins (@MarthasNapkins) June 21, 2019
The adorable little mum-daughter tradition went down a treat with Ailbhe, and so mum Martha kept it up, always managing to come up with new designs and themes to brighten her daughter’s day.
Everyday my wife draws on our daughter’s lunchbox napkin to give her a smile in school. This weekend we went to see #ToyStory4
?#MarthasNapkins pic.twitter.com/Wvo9QF1yrK— Martha’s Napkins (@MarthasNapkins) June 26, 2019
More recently, Martha’s husband, Aidan, set up a Twitter account to share his wife’s designs – realising if they managed to put a smile on his daughter’s face, they might do the very same thing for others.
“Originally, Martha started doing the napkins in December 2017, and was sending me pictures of them, he explains. “I loved them, and this year I asked if I could share them on my social media accounts because I thought other people would love them too. Martha was reluctant because she wanted it to be just Mammy-Daughter thing, but she relented when I said it could be both.”
Every morning my wife, Martha, draws on our daughter Ailbhe’s lunchbox napkin to give her a smile in school. The only thing Martha loves more than her family is regular cups of tea… #MarthasNapkins pic.twitter.com/vHX85LTT2h
— Martha’s Napkins (@MarthasNapkins) June 24, 2019
And having seen people’s reaction to the lovely hand-drawn napkins, Aidan kept sharing his wife’s sweet art.
“People really seemed to love them during the year, so last week I decided to set up some dedicated accounts for them. The response on Twitter has been lovely. Now that school is over, during the summer I’ll be sharing pictures of napkins-gone-by and some of Martha’s other sketches.”
Asked what inspired her when it comes to the napkins, Martha explains:
“Mostly, desperately looking around the room or out the window at 8.45 a.m., but occasionally as I’m dropping off to sleep or in the shower. Often, from conversation with Ailbhe.”
Come September, Ailbhe will be starting secondary school, and asked whether or not he thinks his wife will keep the napkin art up, Aidan explains:
“Ailbhe loves them. The other day, Martha had a friend over for tea and she said, “Sure she might not even want me to draw them for her in secondary school” and Ailbhe overheard her and said how very dare she think of stopping.”
Every morning my wife draws on our daughter’s lunchbox napkin to give her a smile in school. This is the napkin that this Twitter
account’s profile pic comes from. #MarthasNapkins #SayWhatYouSee pic.twitter.com/LDAU4uqsvE— Martha’s Napkins (@MarthasNapkins) June 24, 2019
As for what happens to the napkins once they have gone in to school and come back?
“Oh, at the end of the day, the napkins go in the bin, says Aidan. “We just keep the pictures.”
Just goes to show, sometimes it only takes a little bit of imagination and care to put a smile on someone’s face.
