It’s almost Mother’s Day. Judging by everything I’m seeing all around me, it already is Mother’s Day and it lasts for several weeks. I don’t know many women who actually enjoy Mother’s Day. Most of us either don’t have kids, do have kids but don’t get along with them, don’t have a living mother to honor or don’t get along with their mothers and grandmothers. For everybody, the day seems to be fraught with tension. Have to get a gift. Have to send flowers. Have to take Mom out to brunch. But what are the siblings doing? Poor Mom can get pulled around among the kids till she feels like a Stretch Armstrong doll.
Anne Lamott
Happy un-Mother’s day
I know it’s not quite Mother’s Day yet, about five hours to go here in Oregon, but it’s Mother’s Day somewhere, and you may have noticed that the mania started early. Advertisements for gifts for Mom, friends planning Mother’s Day activities, radio shows playing mother-centric songs–it’s everywhere. Even on Facebook, it’s Mom, Mom, Mom.
It occurred to me as I was walking my dog through the woods a little while ago, that there’s nothing out there in nature to make us feel bad about not having children. The trees don’t care. The squirrels aren’t running around buying gifts for their mothers. The mama robins aren’t stressing out over whether they’ll get presents tomorrow. Just get away from the media, and you’ll be fine.
I went to a post-wedding shower this afternoon. It was lovely, high tea elegantly served in a beautiful house, followed by gifts and wedding pictures. Everybody else there except the new bride is not only a wife but a mother, and the bride is actively trying to get pregnant. I felt a bit like a purple goose in a field full of white ones. But that’s okay. We must learn to be proud of our purpleness. God made us purple for a reason.
I ran across a great column at Salon.com by Anne Lamott called “Why I Hate Mother’s Day.” You might want to read it. Anne is a mother, but she gets how we feel.
My own un-Mother’s Day gift to you is the release of Childless by Marriage, the Kindle ebook. Click here to buy it for only $2.99. Cheaper than the cocktail you might get to wash your troubles away.
Try not to feel sorry for yourself today or to dishonor the mothers in your life just because of your own lack of children. Go do something you enjoy. The day will pass and you can forget about it for another year.