Today is Mother's Day. It seems like there is a day to celebrate being part of a family. It's well known that National Sibling Day was last month, Father's Day is to come next month and Grandparents' Day is in September. And since parents couldn't handle the fact that Children received their own day, they selfishly created Parent's Day on the fourth Sunday in July.
But did you know Children's Day is next month, the second (or first) Sunday in the month of June. It isn't as celebrated in the USA as much as other countries. Being the youngest of three children, I know full well how significant children are in our parents' lives. Who else would have siphoned their annual income as well as we did? I don't think my parents could have survived car rides to the grocery store or mall without the yelling and fighting in the back of the car. Sometimes I think that children are similar to cats and dogs at times; dogs when parents have treats to give and cats when they make parents own their love. Maybe I'm more like a cat than I realize since I don't express my appreciation as much as I like but my parents still call me every week ("No Ma, I still don't have a girlfriend. No Ma, I wouldn't hide it"). My siblings and I may think we were destined to be awesome fools but let's be honest, we were raised by amazing people.
There has been an effort to create a National Aunt and Uncle Day. I will leave you with the following questions: Do we really have to create days of observances just to show appreciation to every specific group of people? Have we becoming so busy and neglectful that we need almost weekly reminders to recognize them for their roles in your life? These holidays have become like other holidays where the consumer industry has convinced us to spend money on them for that day of observance. But we must remember to acknowledge and be appreciative of those in our lives every moment we can, through the happiest and most miserable of times.
Lastly, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. But this is a day of honoring more than just mothers but also to commemorate those people who provide a mother-figure; whether that be an aunt, a father, a teacher, a mentor, a neighbor, a sibling, a friend, or like in my case, my grandmother.
And how do I know my mother loves me and that I have the best mother ever? I think my mother calls me just to hear my voice and confirms that I'm eating. And occasionally, I assume she forces my father to go their the hassle of starting a video chat with me (with no prior notice) just to see my face (and I presume that I'm not getting fat). And just look how she dressed her children (above)..