I've written this before: if I don't like a holiday, I don't celebrate it. Gary feels the same. He doesn't like Thanksgiving so we have gone our own ways on that.
For years, Chris and I did not celebrate Mother's Day. When he was around eleven or twelve we agreed not to. It's a holiday I can do without. I thought that the nation needed a Holiday Anonymous self help group.
I mentioned that I hated Mother's Day at a gas station this morning and the young clerk said, "I do, too! There's no children's day. Not fair." Two older women started telling us they didn't like the day either, though neither said why. Perhaps they had no children or their children never came to see them, I don't know.
Maybe the high expectation of the day is at fault. Our children don't worship us, nor should they.
One of my problems is the music. The songs written for mothers are outright sappy. The best Gary could come up with when I asked his opinion was Jerry Jeff Walker's "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBOcwgb4OA Another friend suggested "Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard about a guy in prison saying it wasn't his mother's fault. Perhaps only country western singers can write about mothers.
This Mother's Day, however, I went out with Chris and his family. That is because my grandson Evan's birthday is tomorrow. To celebrate we went out to eat at Happy Joe's pizzeria where he could play the many games and collect tokens for prizes.
Instead of giving him a present, we went shopping later and he found a great Spymaster gadget, a sensor that detects movement and sets off an alarm. Later he tried it out on Dante and Brodie, the two cats, who didn't appreciate it all that much.
I think I enjoyed that as much as the Mother's Day present they gave me.
For years, Chris and I did not celebrate Mother's Day. When he was around eleven or twelve we agreed not to. It's a holiday I can do without. I thought that the nation needed a Holiday Anonymous self help group.
I mentioned that I hated Mother's Day at a gas station this morning and the young clerk said, "I do, too! There's no children's day. Not fair." Two older women started telling us they didn't like the day either, though neither said why. Perhaps they had no children or their children never came to see them, I don't know.
Maybe the high expectation of the day is at fault. Our children don't worship us, nor should they.
One of my problems is the music. The songs written for mothers are outright sappy. The best Gary could come up with when I asked his opinion was Jerry Jeff Walker's "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBOcwgb4OA Another friend suggested "Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard about a guy in prison saying it wasn't his mother's fault. Perhaps only country western singers can write about mothers.
This Mother's Day, however, I went out with Chris and his family. That is because my grandson Evan's birthday is tomorrow. To celebrate we went out to eat at Happy Joe's pizzeria where he could play the many games and collect tokens for prizes.
Instead of giving him a present, we went shopping later and he found a great Spymaster gadget, a sensor that detects movement and sets off an alarm. Later he tried it out on Dante and Brodie, the two cats, who didn't appreciate it all that much.
I think I enjoyed that as much as the Mother's Day present they gave me.
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