Why I Don’t Celebrate Mother’s Day
If I told you I was a weird one, it probably wouldn’t be anything new. I actually get pretty excited when I come across anyone else with an inkling of attributes similar to my own. Believe me, I know I’m different and I’m totally okay with that.
So, don’t hate on me for putting this out there… but I don’t care to celebrate Mother’s Day. Or Father’s Day. Or Valentine’s Day. The list could go on.
Why I Don’t Celebrate Mother’s Day
Do you watch The Middle? We love this show! There is so much that happens with the Heck family that we feel we can absolutely relate to. I bring up the Hecks for a very good reason.
Frankie, the mother of the family played by Patricia Heaton, displays my theory very well on the episode, Mother’s Day II.
Frankie has a break down after (yet another) tumultuous Mother’s Day. So, the family devises a plan to have a do-over weekend for her, which ends up going even worse. To the point where Frankie just climbs out of the stuck ferris wheel she and Mike are in, and she jumps.
It’s at this point that I felt more in tune with Frankie than ever. YES! This is me every Mother’s Day.
Now, I have to give it to Colby and the kids. They do their very best in trying to make the day go as smooth and stress-free as possible. I mean. Okay, yes, they try.
Sometimes.
Other times, the entire day goes up in flames.
Colby and I, while in our “dating again” phase, had one of the worst arguments of our entire relationship on the way to church… on Mother’s Day.
Another year, we were invited to an event four hours away that then required us to drive home on Mother’s Day. Our kids ended up riding with another family member after Colby said something completely out of line prior to getting in the car.
We didn’t speak to each other the entire 4-hour ride home. Not a word.
Another terrible Mother’s Day in the record books. In fact, it was that year that I requested we stop even trying to “make a day of it.”
But, in reality, it’s never been my thing. Well, wait, I take that back.
My very first Mother’s Day, when I was just a few weeks pregnant with Chey, Colby brought me home two roses: one red and one pink. The red rose was for me and the pink one was for our baby.
Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones, but that was one for the memory books. To this day, it is still my favorite and most memorable.
I still willingly accept the attention that my family likes to dote on me (even though they know I hate attention), but I do it more for them than for myself.
I don’t believe in taking someone else’s blessings away. Yet I still feel strongly about not celebrating holidays such as Mother’s Day. Why?
I am of the school of thought that Moms, Dads, your Valentine, etc, should be celebrated year round. Not just one day out of each year.
It’s often hard for me to come up with a way to distinguish a holiday from the day before it because the celebrations are the same.
We can grill food in the backyard, hang out with the kids, and play games all hours of the night on Saturday, then do it again on Mother’s Day and I would still love it just the same.
I don’t need a special day to remind me that I love my mom, that I love being a mom myself, or even that I am a mother to an angel. All of these things are constant in my mind.
I would hope that my children —and Colby— have that daily reminder as well.
Sure, there may be some days where we don’t want to remember any of it, but there have been more than a handful of Mother’s Day Sundays where I just “wasn’t in the the mood.” It was definitely an “it’s me, not you” sort of deal.
We all have those days, right?
And when my day falls on a particular holiday such as this, does this mean I just miss out on the “Mother’s Day love” this year? I have to wait a whole other year full of Sundays for my kids to care to celebrate me being their mom?
(Don’t get me started on birthdays either).
See what I mean though? No. Love me today as your mom. Appreciate me today.
Every day.
I don’t need a red date on a calendar to feel loved.
I adore and treasure every hug, kiss, meal, gift or words of affirmation my family bestows on me on special occasions.
Yet, I also adore and treasure every hug, kiss, meal, gift or words of affirmation my family bestows on me each and every day.
And, because they do this so well, I can know that the attention they give me on Mother’s Day is genuine. They show we so well every other day of the year that I don’t need a day all to myself. I’m lucky that way. I hope you are too.
And, if you’re the type that truly loves having this one special day of the year to be pampered… live it up! I will be over here just trying to get through the day with no grief from anyone.
That’s truly all I ask for. One day completely hassle-free from everyone.
Happy Mother’s Day anyway!
