Many
years ago I realized that the commercialized version of Mother's Day is
both unrealistic and unattainable. Expecting a day filled with doting
from your children and husband only results in disappointment when they
fail to reach the Hallmark ideals. Not long after coming to terms with
the non-existent Mother's Day in my fantasies, I lowered my expectations
to thwart disappointment. Unfortunately, this year I am afraid I didn't
lower the bar enough.
All I wanted for Mother's Day
was to sleep in, to have Robby deliver me coffee in bed and to go to the
farm for a day of family fun. Despite my being vocal about my wishes, I
found myself pulling a squawking Timmy out of his crib before dawn. Not
willing to wait another 4 hours for Robby to wake up, I made my own
coffee and quietly entertained Timmy by myself. So much for sleeping in
on Mother's Day!
When Scott woke up he could tell
that I was disappointed with his failing to wake up to take care of
Timmy, forcing me to abandon the first of my Mother's Day wishes.
Frustrated and feeling hurt, I left to do some grocery shopping before
the stores became busy. To his credit, Scott must have heard me when I
expressed my disappointment in my Mother's Day morning. When I came
home, the traditional "World's Best Mother" banner was hanging from the
porch.
Unfortunately, it was filthy, wrinkled from
being balled up in the garage and hung upside down. Any sentiment that
was meant to be communicated was lost by the careless execution of the
gesture. Robby finally rolled out of bed around 10. I was greeted with a
request for pancakes to be delivered to him as he played a computer
game. So much for his waking up to make me breakfast!
It
was perfectly clear that nobody in the house was concerned with
honoring me on Mother's Day. I was quite relieved when the dirty
covered banner finally fell off of the porch, almost as if it was the
universe granting me permission to cancel the holiday. I called time of
death on Mother's Day and decided that the day would continue as a
normal Sunday.
Peggy, you deserve better than this.
ReplyDeleteTo the family: Your wife and mom deserves better on Mother's Day; she deserves better every day. Why don't you try again next weekend, both days? Then have a go at it every day. She works harder for you than you can imagine. What do you think? Deal?
I agree with you, Peggy...keep expectations low, and just let this made-up "holiday" die. The greeting card companies are wealthy enough...
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