Dear Kid,
Mother’s Day is an odd day. The idea of having only one day a year where we say Thanks Mom! seems unreasonable given everything moms do. The idea of celebrating the Thanks Mom! day by forcing her to remain in bed (or to wake up too early), serving her runny eggs, and watching her eat every bite seems a bit of cruel irony. And the idea of doing things the family wants to do rather than leaving mom alone for a while to read the newspaper and drink coffee in peace leaves many moms taking a deep breath, pasting on a weak grin, and hoping the day will end. Moms are often Mother’s Day Martyrs.
To be clear: Mothers are wonderful. I myself happen to have a particularly extraordinary mom who I would not trade for anything (not even with fudge sauce on top).
On more than one occasion I have opened my mouth and heard my mother speaking. I’m generally surprised, sometimes concerned about my lack of free will, but never upset. It is one of my goals to grow up to be my mother. I won’t ever exactly get there (if nothing else, the idea of exercising before the birds are up is not likely to be something I’ll ever do) but it’s a pretty good goal to aspire toward.
My point (I’m pretty sure I have a point) is that once a year is insufficient for being good to our moms. We all need to be better about telling our moms how amazing they are. We all need to call/write/text/hug mom more often. We all need to figure out a way to spend more time with our moms—not so easy when we are geographically inconveniently located, but still important.
The really cool part? Just telling your mom you want to spend more time with her is 50% of the battle. Ok, maybe more like 30% and it’s not really a battle. Telling your mom you want to spend more time with her is 30% of the gift. But only 30% so some real effort is required to celebrate Mother’s Day (especially when you’re a college kid).
Mom—I love you today, tomorrow, and always. Happy Mother’s Day.
Love, Your Kid
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