It isn’t that I was busy yesterday so much that I was sleeping in after partying late after closing the show. I did have to work for a little bit yesterday, but nothing crazy. Of course, my phone also crashed yesterday which was a big pain in the ass. I mean, it isn’t that hard to restore an iPhone, but when you run a jailbroken phone you have to go back and install all the non-Apple stuff. (It is totally worth it though).
So, late yesterday afternoon I finally got a chance to call my mother to say “Happy Mother’s day.” While I am sure that it made her happy, she didn’t really care. She was more interested in the fact that I had called and that we could catch up on things. It’s not like I don’t call my parents a couple times a week, I just thought it was interesting. At the time, they were in the car on the way home from New Hampshire, so later on in the evening I got the following email from my mother:
“I wanted to say something about mother’s day but I forgot when we were talking today and my phone battery was dying.
“For me, every day is mother’s day. I have three amazing kids and I feel honored by you guys every day and by everything you do. (Also, I pat myself on the back, and daddy too, that you are such great kids). I guess many mother’s need a day. Or at least Hallmark and florists/restaurants need a day – but I am so proud of you, Dan, and Leah all the time it makes every day my day.”
This, of course, made me think back to mine and my siblings b’nei mitzvot when my mother told us that if people asked us “Are you proud of your sibling today?” We should say: “I am proud of my siblings every day!” I don’t know if I truly felt that way then, but I certainly do now.
I agree with my mother on this one. While in some respects it is nice to have a day to celebrate mothers, how much do we really need it? I mean, everyone should be honoring their parents every day! We should be thankful to our parents for bringing us into the world and giving us a chance at life all the time. I think if we keep that in mind then everything we do will always honor our parents!
As with so many holidays, Mother’s and Father’s day have gone from having real significance to being complete “Hallmark” holidays. They are now just excuses for companies to make and market products that are holiday-centric. You shouldn’t need an excuse to send your mother a card or bring over flowers. You shouldn’t even need an excuse to call home just to say hi! It also shouldn’t cost you anything or require any additional work out of your day to make your parent’s proud of you.
There is no greater compliment or pat on the back than a note like the one my mother sent me. The fact that my siblings and I make her proud and happy every day means that not only did we do something right, but so did she! So, don’t wait for an excuse, make every day Mother’s and Father’s Days!
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