2016 May 7
So… Mothers’ Day is tomorrow. But you probably knew that, what with all the boutiques and flower stores and bakeries advertising their deals and bargains and discounts for Mothers’ Day on your newsfeed. Since you already knew that, let’s move in to something a little less known.
On the quick Google search of this day’s history that I just took on, I’ve found that
- a) Mothers’ Day could have started with the Greeks and Romans who celebrated the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele or
- b) It could have started with the British, who held a Christian festival called “Mothering Sunday” or
- c) It could have started with Anna Jarvis who held a memorial service for her mother at a church in the United States of America.
Now, the US of A firmly denies that the memorial service held in 1908 that celebrated mothers, motherhood and maternal influence in society is in any way related to the Greek, Roman or Christian festivals celebrating mothers, motherhood and maternal influence in society. So let’s roll with that for the moment.
So someone gathered a few people to a religious place to reminisce about their deceased relative, and about all the things that made that person a great person.
Do you know who else does that?
Buddhists. Every year, on the anniversary of death, actually.
I am thoroughly unfamiliar with how situations like this work in other religions, but one of my Muslim friends once told me about a small memorial service that they do on the anniversary of death of his grandfather, so basically about 75% of Sri Lanka had been doing for centuries exactly what Anna Jarvis did once in 1908.
What I’m getting at here isn’t that you shouldn’t buy your mother flowers on Sunday, I’m not saying don’t buy or make her a card and/or a cake. What I’m getting at is, why do we only do it on May 8th?
Do you ever, except on her birthday, buy your mother flowers, or a gift, or do something special? If you do, kudos to you, because that is a special bond that deepens the intimate connection between mother and child. If you don’t; why not?
Why do you let a holiday created by the Westerners and proliferated by profit-hungry businesses guilt-trip you into buying some things to give to your mother to make her feel special on one single day of the year, besides her birthday? You don’t have to get her flowers every day, or take her out to dinner every single weekend, or buy her gifts to make your mother feel special. You don’t even have to spend any money, and would mean a thousand fold more simply because you’re doing it out of love.
HOW?
Well.
Does your mother do the cooking, and the cleaning? Take a load off her shoulders; offer to cook for the day. Vacuuming or sweeping the house really doesn’t take much effort for a young, lithe body; unlike for your mother’s, which aches if she turns too quickly, and feels like it would snap in two if she has to bend to pick up after her family. You can do this as frequently as you like, and it would mean the world to her because she can just relax for the day without worrying about what her family will eat, or whether one of the kids will get sick because there was dust in the house.
Does your mother love watching movies? Ask her to come sit down with you and watch a rerun of an old movie you both love. Brew some tea, and make an evening of it. I guarantee she will love spending the time with you. To make her feel extra queen-like, do the suggestion above as well.
Does your mother work late? Have a soothing bath ready for her, and change the bedsheets into the extra-soft ones that she loves. For a bonus touch, make sure to have a strong cup of tea ready, because we all know our Sri Lankan Ammi’s and Amma’s can’t survive without it when they’re tired.
Don’t limit your love for your beautiful Amma to just Mothers’ Day and her birthday. Trust me, there are countless people who have gone to sleep thinking they’ve got years to show their parents how much they love them, not knowing that when they wake up they would regret not showing it last night, or on all the nights before. Shower them with love everyday. It’s the best way.
