I hope some mothers love Mother’s Day, but I know an awful lot of us hate it.
In my case, I didn’t mind it till after I got married and wanted kids but didn’t have any, I wasn’t pregnant, and the people handing out Mother’s Day gifts at church pointedly passed me … three years in a row.
Ouch.
The fourth year, I had a baby about a month old and was probably too tired to hear any of the talks at church or eat the candy bar all the mothers got afterwards.
The fifth year to the thirteenth year I hated every Mother’s Day because it was painfully obvious to me (and probably the rest of the world) that I was a lousy mother sometimes, and I was sick to death of all the eulogies to the perfect moms given at church. I’d usually suffer through a talk while looking around wondering, “Who in the world are they talking about here? Is there a woman alive that could match up to what this person is talking about, ’cause it sure isn’t me or anyone I know!”
This year I had almost decided to invite all the mothers to the kitchen and nursery during the meeting for a potluck so I didn’t have to suffer through another “Moms are perfect and superhumanly awesome” talk.
Instead, I went to visit my family that weekend. Two days before Mother’s Day, I started ranting about it to my sister and she started really quizzing me down as to why I hate it so much. She countered everything I said until all I was left with was the realization that I had mostly just developed a habit of hating Mother’s Day.
I mean, I love my kids. I love my family. I love being a mom. I loved holding my babies and now I love watching them grow up. So, why hate mother’s day?
Hmmm…
The morning of Mother’s Day, I woke up and decided that I would love Mother’s Day this year, and hopefully every year I live. I went to church and listened to some good talks while I held hands with my 96-year-old grandmother, my oldest girl snuggled up to me, my middle girl snuggled with my mom, and my 3-year-old sat on my mom’s lap. Later I played with my girls and had a great talk with my mom. It was a truly beautiful day and hopefully the start of many good Mother’s Days to come.
I love our family home evening and scripture study traditions because they support me in consciously taking time to teach and play with my kids and enjoy being their mom. And I love having my FHEasy book to support me in having high-quality FHEs when things are busy, which is … always!
Happy Future Mother’s Days, and Happy Home Evenings!
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