Mothers Day

I´m not a big fan of Mother´s Day. 

Now hold on, don´t get mad just yet.  I´m not trying to be an iconoclast (like that GRE word??).  I love my Mother, and my father, and my siblings and family.  I value them and having them in my life every day.  What I am not particularly fond of are celebration days in general.  Earth Day, Water Day, Fathers Day, Children Day, etc.

Please don´t think of me as a cynic, although sometimes that is how I feel about the events held on these days.  What I do like about these days of recognition is exactly that, they recognize something important and call attention to it.  However, in my opinion, these things have a special day all to themselves because they are so important that they should be celebrated and concentrated on, EVERYDAY. And, the reason I sometimes get frustrated by the specific day designated to them, is that the events and celebrations on these days often are excuses to try to make different organizations or people look good, even if they are not for the rest of the year. 

In Peru, Mother´s Day is a huge event.  A whole school day is often dedicated to it.  Students prepare cards, signs, posters, etc.  They also practice for days, sometimes during class hours, dance rutines and skits to perform on Mother´s Day for their Moms. 

What I have seen is that this event, often in a school, can sometimes turn into a party.  Parents come, and after the kids have all presented their poems, speeches, songs, dances, etc, the party turns more adult and there is music, food and drink.  In some cases that I have seen, there is a lottery drawing of prizes and gifts to different mothers.  The food is often prepared by the mothers, or by teachers (who themselves, in many cases, are also mothers).  The drink is offered to mothers, but primarily consumed (or ¨quaffed¨ - to make use of another GRE word) by the males.  There are sometimes uncomfortable dances, in which many mothers don´t really want to participate.  By the end, it turns into a party/drinking event, often requiring the mothers to cook, provide food and clean up, while simultaneously being the centers of attention. 

I had an upbeat conversation with a local taxi driver the day before mother´s day, telling him it was not such a big deal in the US.  I explained that, at least for my family, it is a more personal thing, and that usually we try to do things for our Mom that day so that she can relax.  He laughed and said ¨Here, we all celebrate grandly for our Moms.  We go and visit them with gifts, and they make all the food and do all the cleaning up.¨

I think these events have a lot of heart and meaning in them.  I also think that it is an excuse to say ¨Thanks Mom¨, once a year, while being ungrateful or even abusive for the rest of the year.  I think Mothers should be celebrated everyday, and Mother´s Day should be an extension of that general goodness and caring. 

I think that is my general problem with all National and International recognition days.  I like them because they call attention to important issues, people or events.  But, sometimes it turns into an excuse to act like you care about something for a day, while completely neglecting it the rest of the year.  

I suppose the message I want to dejar (leave) in this post is that we should all celebrate our Moms, Dads, Mother Earth, Children, Water, etc, EVERYDAY.  Be conscious of your actions, and be generous with love.

And to round this little tyrade out, I want to write a special note to my Mom.  She is the reason I am who I am.  She is confident, proud of me no matter what, loving and nurturing all the time, and always there for us kids when we need her.  I´m so happy to have been raised by her and my Dad and feel fortunate all the time to be part of my wonderful family.  I could not have asked for a better one.  Thank you Mom, I love you! 

Until next time.