A big thank you to Jane for reminding me that this Sunday is Mother’s Day in the UK.
I always do a Mother’s Day post in May in preparation for the event here in the U.S., but of course, that’s too little too late for UK readers.
So, this week’s topic Mother’s Day, Part I. If you’re getting ready for the coming weekend’s challenges, feel free to reach out here. What are you dreading? How are planning to deal with the day?
If you need some tips, here are a couple of posts that might be useful:
Bah Humbug to Mother’s Day, but Not to Mother
The Mother’s Day Card I Wish Existed
For everyone else, it’s open forum today.
Thanks Lisa – I’ve just battled around the shops for a gift for my Mum. Without intending to be away on Mother’s day (here in the UK its 31 March this year), I was pleased to see my last trip to the snow is 30 March – 7 April. However, “note to self” – stay away from the Media, FB and all shops in the lead up to Mother’s day as its everywhere! I usually send flowers to my Mum when I am away, however, last year they apparently weren’t very good (she complained to the shop at the time, got a new bunch, and dealt with it) but she still told me all about it when I got home. For a few years though that worked well for me and meant I could avoid the shops and lots of triggers.
This is the first year for me without my lovely Mum, so I am trying to avoid all mention of it which isn’t easy.
I’m fortunate to still have my Mum so I don’t find Mother’s Day particularly hard. I guess eventually there will come a time when I will be neither the giver nor receiver of a Mother’s Day card. A few weeks ago, I received a message from a company asking if I wanted to opt out of receiving Mother’s Day mailings from them. I thought that was great – other companies should do the same. It’s hard to avoid it on the high street and on Facebook etc but to not have your inbox filled with messages that you find painful would be a big help I’m sure. They should also do that with Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day.
Today I wanted to treat myself to something new to wear. I looked at a website I’ve not used before and had a bit of a shock when photos of large baby bumps unexpectedly appeared in the options as I scrolled down. There didn’t seem to be a way of just looking at the non-maternity clothes. It was a lose-lose – the company upset me for the day and have also lost me as a potential customer. It’s hard to deal with suddenly seeing bumps when you didn’t expect to see them.
I don’t go to church on Mother’s Day. Being in a religion where motherhood is the end goal for all girls, and motherhood is all but worshipped, I just skip town and go to my mother’s for a couple days. Not sure how I will handle it when mom passes though. Guess I’ll found out….hopefully many many many years from now.