Why I hate Mother's day.

Ahh Mother’s Day. The day that everyone takes a moment to say wonderful beautiful things about their mom. Today on facebook I saw the following comments

Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful moms out there!!!”

Happy Mothers Day to all you beautiful Mothers!

☼ ♥ If you have an amazing MOTHER, put this as your status♥ ☼

(Let it be said that although I did not make a similar post, I love my mom TONS! She is amazing!)! It is obvious that people love their mothers’ and love mother’s day. Mother’s love the breakfast in bed with the freshly squeezed juice, the homemade card, the house delightfully clean with not a dirty dish in sight . All mothers love spending the day relaxing in the sun, reading a favorite book, not changing any diapers, and their feet are massaged all day long. Ahhh…I love those days.

Actually, today I confessed something to Cory. I hate Mother’s day. Well “hate” may be a too strong of a word. Perhaps its just a bitter feeling that I have. Why do I feel this way?? I think I figured it out.

For years I have dreaded mother’s day. When it was approaching, the advertising would drive me insane! In my pre-mom years, I was a florist. Mother’s day was THE MOTHER of flower days. The people would call and have us select, arrange, and deliver their vases of love to their mothers. Some of them would comment about the obligation of doing something for their mother, others would specifically have flowers sent to their mother so that they wouldn’t have to approach or call them themselves. Gah. It wasn’t always a loving atmosphere. Now, the day has become so hyped up that I don’t know how any mom can survive the day without a myriad of guilt for expecting but not receiving THE perfect Hallmark day as described above.

Oh wait. You didn’t have a foot massage all day either? Were you one of the lucky mom’s that didn’t have to wash the dishes tonight? Did this lack of a perfect day for such a hard working mom, such as yourself, cause any tension in the household?

THAT is why I don’t like Mother’s day. Those feelings do nothing to improve the relationships in any family.

Mother’s day was created by a few different people. One was Julia Howe, she was a pacifist that wanted to organize the mothers to stop war. The other one was Ann Jarvis who wanted to organize the mothers to improve sanitary and health conditions. Interestingly, Ann’s daughter Anna, was the one who was able to make it an official holiday. Then, later in life, she became its biggest opponent saying that it had become to commercialized and just a reason to sell cards. She even said she regretted lobbying for the holiday.

Then, the kingpin himself, Pres. Wilson declared it a holiday in 1914. When I learned that President Wilson was behind mother’s day I KNEW there was something wrong with it. Pres. Wilson did so much against the constitution that anything he touched with his signature had the prowess of destroying the country someday. A little to strong of an opinion? Umm…nope. So what was his motivation behind mother’s day? Some sources say that he originally declared Mother’s Day to recognize the mother’s whose sons were lost at war. Perhaps that was his motivation. I really don’t know. His wife had been sick at the time and passed away shortly after the declaration, perhaps that was his motivation. I do know that all of the other policy he passed and declared, have been under the view that "the U.S. Constitution prevents the government from meeting the country's needs by enumerating rights that the government may not infringe." ... in other words, you are not smart enough to make the decisions to take care of yourself, you need the government to do that for you and the constitution is in the way! (Sorry everyone! This was not suppose to be a rant on Pres. Wison.) I’m just saying, that according to the pattern he had set with his other policies, there is a good chance that he used the same motivation with this one. Was he saying that we don’t appreciate our mothers and so we need a gov’t holiday to do it? idk…do you appreciate your mom on other days besides the one issued by the gov’t?

Today for mother’s day I was not home with my kids. We were at my sister’s house far far away enjoying their company and my parents. It was a blast!! Her home is always one of my favorite places to go. As we were there, I don’t think any of my kids remembered it was Mother’s day as none of them said anything to me concerning it. They were having fun with their cousins and then they were being whisked off to my parents farm for a week.

I was sitting in church trying to justify myself for being grumpy over the lack of Mother’s day spirit around me. Where were the trumpets as I walked? Where were the cascades of flower petals that shouted to the world how great of a mother I am? Where is the chocolate, the fancy dinners, and the shouts of praise from my family??? As I was pondering, a great realization came over me. My boys and my husband have made me breakfast in bed at least once a month over the past year. They have massaged my feet endless times. They have made me homemade cards that tell me how much they love me. They have given me the best hugs. They have even washed the dishes without being told. So why would I be upset if it didn’t happen today? Does that mean that they love me less? Heck no. Why do I need a government holiday to dictate when my boys can express their love for their mom and why do I need commercials to tell me how my boys can express their love???

Is it nice to be remembered and recognized on Mother’s day? Of course, but that doesn’t define the only time that we should remember our mothers. I have been wondering how it would be different without a holiday for mothers. Would it be like when we take care of the sick and afflicted? When they need something, we help them, take care of their needs, and not wait to be told when and how to do it?

On Christmas we think of the Savior and his life, is this the only day we think of him? If it is, then you are missing out on so many blessings. It is the same with Mother’s day. If you only think of doing nice things for your mom on mother’s day, or are just facebooking your Mother’s day message to her, you are missing out.

Is this an entry of a embittered mom who didn’t get all she wanted for Mother’s day? Ha! No way! I am one of the lucky ones who get bits and pieces of Mother’s day all throughout the year.