Disclaimer: I love my mum.
Another year, another Mother’s Day, and another excuse to post photos of yourself as a chubby baby being held by your Mum, telling all of Instagram* and Facebook how much you love her, despite the very real possibility that she wouldn’t know how to use social media if an iPad hit her in the face.
Living three and a half hours away from home naturally means that I don’t have the energy, or the money, to go home all that often. To be honest, I’m not going to bother for Mother’s Day. As much as I adore my Mum, and hope she has a lovely day, I really don’t see the point in traipsing halfway across the country to tell her what she already knows, that I love her, and she’s awesome (I can say all that in a card).
What’s more, it’s nearly the end of term, so I’m not entirely sure why there’s so many people willing to make the journey home twice in such a short space of time (unless you live nearby of course). Naturally, I’m a stinge, and a bit of a cynic. Perhaps this is coming from a place of cold hard stone. But honestly, it’s just one day, so why all the fuss?
“Why should we have just one day to celebrate our mothers?”
Am I a bad person? I would like to think not. If you’re horrible to your parents 364 days of the year but make an exception on Mother’s Day, I’d say that makes you a worse person than not bothering to go home on this particular day. What’s more, along the same lines as the women who cried that we shouldn’t have just one day to celebrate women, why should we have just one day to celebrate our mothers? It shouldn’t take ‘Mother’s Day’ for everyone to suddenly realise how much they appreciate and love their mums and then go back to ignoring her existence as soon as it’s over.
Thank god for the invention of Moonpig, because honestly, stamps are just too damn expensive, and having to find a nice looking card in Clintons for £3.50** is just too much of a time waster. Rather than waste £50 on a train ticket, why don’t you just pop that ugly baby photo of you in a nice border, type in some words about how much you appreciate her and send it off? Job done! You get brownie points for being a thoughtful son/daughter without the effort or the time, and your mum still feels appreciated.
“Until I’m a mum myself I won’t appreciate the importance of the day”
I guess what I’m trying to say is: no, you’re not a bad person for not caring enough to go home and visit your Mum (just as long as you remember to give her a call so you’re not completely heartless). Until I’m a mum myself I guess I won’t appreciate the importance of the day, but then, if I need a special day for my children to tell me they love me, then I guess I won’t have raised particularly pleasant offspring…
*@em_harbottle on instagram
** Emily Harbottle (2017) Is Clinton Cards Necessary, Penguin Press
Emily Harbottle
image: The Pentecostals of OC via Flickr
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