In the past week, I have heard a rainbow of responses from mothers about what will transpire this Mother’s Day. One of my girlfriends who is not a fan of Hallmark holidays absolutely dreads the day and would rather ignore it entirely. Another mom I chatted up in spin class said her Mother’s Day has never once been about her and instead is about placating her mother and mother-in-law. At a luncheon I attended recently, I laughed out loud when I heard that in anticipation of Mother’s Day this mom surreptitiously added money to her daughter’s credit card in the hope of receiving a decent Mother’s Day gift. A mantra from most of the mothers I’ve talked to is that they simply do not want to spearhead the planning of their own Mother’s Day. Their needs are simple.They want to sleep in and not be bogged down by questions and carpooling and other demands typically put upon them every other day of the year. A mother who had the faintest idea of what was in store for her special day summed it up best when she told me, “You have to have zero expectations, so you aren’t disappointed.”
Meanwhile, zero expectations is the complete antithesis of what a mom fulfills for her children on a nearly daily basis. She is, after all, CEO of the household, First Lady of the family, and the original role model rolled into one pretty package. She is the go-to-gal for virtually everything. Scraped knee, belly ache, hurt feelings, bruised heart? No problem, she is on it with ice packs, hot compresses, an ear to listen, and a shoulder to lean on. She is a jack-of-all trades, superhero combining the expert skills of a doctor, lawyer, limo driver, plumber, housekeeper, chef, party planner, travel agent, and so much more. She is a master scheduler and ninja multi-tasker. When it comes to her children, nothing can stand in her way. She will move mountains and part seas to protect them. She is a tiger mom, a soccer mom, and a mama bear armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude and a don’t-even-think-about-messing-with-me spirit. And that is why we love her!
Mom as role-model possesses an ethereal elegance. She is poised, composed, thoughtful, presentable, well-spoken, and, of course, well-mannered. We hold her up on a pedestal and demand her absolute best all of the time. Does this job come with a great deal of pressure? You betcha! Why do you think so many moms count the seconds until they can glean just one peaceful moment to down their wine devoid of interruption? For all of these reasons and a thousand more, it is important to show mom the love on this day dedicated to her greatness and to recognize that with all of the amazing things she does, she is also human and she will make mistakes, grave mistakes every now and again.
So today cut her some slack and shower her with the love she so rightly deserves. Do a dish, take out the garbage, hold your tongue, set the table, pull out her chair, help her with her coat, give her a hug, and most importantly, say thank you and tell her how much you appreciate her. That is guaranteed to put a smile on her face at least until…Father’s Day. Don’t even get me started on moms many roles and responsibilities when it comes to the care and keeping of DAD!
No comments:
Post a Comment