The thing about Mother's Day

The thing about Mother's Day is that you have to figure out how to celebrate all the Moms in your life and realistically that is not always possible.  When you are like me and have a mother of my own and a mother-in-law both nearby things can get complicated.  Very often, dare I say almost every time, Mother's Day is never about me.  It is about my Mom or Rob's Mom.  Sometimes it is about Aunts and sisters-in-law too.  Don't get me wrong, I am pleased to celebrate all the mothers in our life, but there's only so much time in one weekend and when you're in a situation like mine, you don't usually end up getting to do something for yourself.

I know I am not alone in this situation therefore I really think there needs to be one set strategy or hierarchy for dealing with this.  Perhaps each family needs to set their own and maybe it should be decided when you get married?  I don't know how it would work though.  When I even start trying to think about it my head hurts.  Every year we hit the same problem:  too many mothers and not enough time.

I know I should be grateful that I have my mother, my mother-in-law, my sisters-in-law and my daughter who all want to celebrate Mother's day with me and I am.  And I am very grateful and consider myself lucky.  I know a time will come around when my mother and my mother-in-law won't be around just as I know a time will come when Zoe wishes me "Happy Mother's Day" via text message from wherever life has taken her.

Perhaps the problem is really with the holiday itself?  Do we really need Mother's Day?  I mean we all know it is a Hallmark invented occasion  that is fully supported by the florists and jewelry stores, so why do we invest so much into it?  I really don't know.  I guess we're suckers for marketing.

All I do know is that almost every year on Mother's Day (since I became a mother, of course) I end up feeling like all I did was run around to please others which leaves me feeling simultaneously taken for granted and selfish and that just seems completely counterintuitive to the spirit of the day