The shops and adverts have been telling us for at least a month that today is Mother’s Day
My inbox has been inundated with offers of cheap flowers, discount vouchers for a tasty mothers day lunch out, yummy chocolates and a host of others goodies for mum
Now as it happens I have the best mum in the world. (besides my wife and mother of our children who of course who is also the best mum in the world!) Today she deserves to put her feet up, relax, and glow in the warmth of the love of her children and grandchildren and enjoy the gifts we have lavished on her.
Despite this I still get the feeling that Mothers day is over commercialised and we need to be honest and acknowledge many people find Mothers day a day to be endured rather than enjoyed.
Over the years those who have lost their mums or those mums who have lost children or those who longed to be mums but were unable to have children, have told me when Mother’s day is over they breathe a sigh of relief ,knowing it is a year till the next one comes around.
But being a mum is not easy it is time consuming and demanding
One mum wrote you know you are a mum when
You start spending regular half hours in the bathroom…just to be alone!
• You start hoping that tomato ketchup is a vegetable, since it’s the only one that your child eats.
• You find that, without thinking about it, you’ve cut off the crusts of your husband’s sandwiches
• You hear your own Mother’s voice coming out of your mouth when you say “NOT in your best clothes!”
Being a mum can be tough being a single mum can sometimes appear almost impossibly difficult. You do an amazing job just to keep going!
But mothers day isn’t really mothers day it was originally called mothering Sunday a day when people would return to their mother church a nearby large church or more often a cathedral to gather with other Christians to be in community together
There’s a clue there about how to keep going in tough times .Find strength in community- that might be a sure start centre or a toddlers group or at the school gate or a fitness class
Human beings were made for community .It is in community that we should find love ,encouragement and support
The greatest community I know is the Christian church and the best churches are not holy huddles but ones who keep the 2 greatest commandments to love God and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves
If you can find a church that does that it must be worth giving it a go!
That is a good "reflection" Charles. Yes, I, too sometimes feel I'm turning into my own Mum and saying the same things!!!(Half of which I vowed I'd never say, of course!)
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the women for whom Mother's Day is not a happy occasion. One woman I know actually said this to me a few days ago! As you say, they could have lost their mums;they could have unable to have children, or lost a child, or maybe adult children live far away and rarely visit, or there has been a rift in family relationshiops. Add to that the women who have stayed single, maybe to look after parents who need care. One of the most "motherly" women I know, to everyone, is a woman who stayed unmarried and looked after first a sick mother then her elderly father. "Mothering" is about nurturing and encouraging and there are many women who are not Mums in the physical sense but whose mothering instincts are used to care for others.
As much as I don't like the commercialism now attached to Mother's Day, I recently came across a card that said "You've been like a Mother to me" and I thought what a good idea it was, as a way of acknowledging the "motherliness" of women who, for whatever reason, find Mother's Day a less than happy day!
Thanks Pauline
ReplyDeleteI agree with so much of what you say about nurturing and encouraging