Have you ever been wished Happy Mother\u2019s Day by the cashier at the grocery store? \u00a0This happened last year, I think for the first time, and was a very strange thing. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t even with my kids, let alone looking stressed out by caring for them. \u00a0I didn\u2019t have a cart full of diapers and baby formula. \u00a0I imagine she distinguished the mothers from the non-mothers in her line by the sheer volume of groceries, or else indiscriminately wished every woman coming through her register a Happy Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n
And this is also the time of year when people wrestle with the Unfairness of Mother\u2019s Day with respect to all manner of people, from infertile women, to women mourning a stillbirth or the loss of a child, to women who simply never had children, to men who raised children \u201cas a mother,\u201d to all manner of people involved in some way in the upbringing of children who aren\u2019t being honored on this day.<\/p>\n
But Mother\u2019s Day isn\u2019t directed at any of these people. \u00a0Really, it\u2019s not directed at mothers<\/strong> either, and it most certainly isn\u2019t a day for society (e.g., the media, churches, organizations of whatever kind, the government itself) to honor mothers, or mothering, or parenting or caring for children, or caring for anyone, generically.<\/p>\n Mother\u2019s Day is a day for children to honor their mothers. \u00a0Hence, \u201cgetting the subject right\u201d: \u00a0 \u201cmothers\u201d are the object of Mother\u2019s Day, children (child-children and adult-children) are the subject, the honor-ers<\/em>. \u00a0If you are a child, honor your mother. \u00a0If she was a complete screw-up, and you can\u2019t find any redeeming \u201cshe tried her best\u201d way of looking at things, then you get a pass. \u00a0If your mother is deceased, then you can say a prayer for her, or in gratitude, depending on your beliefs. \u00a0If you choose to use the occasion of Mother\u2019s Day to honor other people in your life, including your wife when your children are to small to do any honor-ing themselves, well, that\u2019s fine, too; no one is stopping you.<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re not a mother, and are grousing about Mother\u2019s Day: \u00a0go honor your mother, in the best manner that fits your particular circumstances, and then go on with your day.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever been wished Happy Mother\u2019s Day by the cashier at the grocery store? \u00a0This happened last year, I think for the first time, and was a very strange thing. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t even with my kids, let alone looking stressed out by caring for them. \u00a0I didn\u2019t have a cart full of diapers and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n