A Few Words About Mother’s Day

My husband and I were out driving this morning, and the radio station was playing a segment from a Bill Cosby comedy routine. I’m paraphrasing here, but he was talking about how his mother would always fawn over HIS children, saying how previous they are, when he recalls when HE was a child, that his mother seemed to spend all her time thinking of how she could smack him into next week.

That’s pretty much what I think of my mom.

My mother is a completely different person with her grandchildren than she was with my siblings and me. I was one of six children, and since even one child can send a parent over the edge, six probably sends a parent over the edge at light speed. But with my mom, I felt that we all had a bull’s-eye painted on us, and no matter what we did, it was always the wrong thing and we were never good enough. Well, the exception was my only brother, who got away with anything and everything because, well, he was the only boy.

On mother’s day, I find myself thinking of all the things that I think my mother did when I was a child that seemed like persecution. But, I have to admit as I’ve gotten older, what I used to think of as persecution really was her trying to keep me out of trouble and to avoid making mistakes that would have long-term effects. .I have a lot more appreciation and respect for my mom now that I’m 53 than I had for her when I was, for example, 12 years old. I also think that now that her children are grown (or in the case of three of my siblings, have already died), and some have children and grandchildren of their own, that my mother’s hard work to keep us under her thumb paid off. She should be allowed to enjoy the rewards of her efforts.

I would like to wish a happy mother’s day out there to all the moms out there. Also, happy non-mothers day to those out there – like me – who decided that having children was just not the right thing for them to do. People without children sometimes can still be a positive influence on children through their nieces and nephews, or working with children as teachers, health care, or social workers that dedicate their careers to children. Because children really do hold the future.


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