It’s funny that most of the posters on this thread are men, discussing mother’s day.

Mother’s Day is a day I tolerate, because I don’t like fuss, it all seems gratuitous and an excuse to make Hallmark richer. I try to find things my family can do for me that are really meaningful, like rub my feet.

We got plants today at church. I said, “I don’t want something I have to take home and plant. I want a massage.” Nobody went for it, but it’s a plan. Boy, would that make me feel special.

It would be impossible to ignore Mother’s Day anymore, I think, because it would not be a good message to the youth. But I wish that lady had never invented it.

Oh, PS, I think often of that lady, Kitty De—-’s mother. I’ve read that book and I admire her so tremendously for how she prepared for that and how she stood it. It comes to mind when I contemplate WWIII and all the implications.

I can sympathize with the frustration over the picture of motherhood that is sometimes painted on Mother’s Day. The Hallmark cards available at the grocery store just don’t jive with what motherhood is all about. The talks given in sacrament meeting sometimes suffer from the same problem. But these attempts to celebrate motherhood don’t (or at least don’t have to) define what Mother’s Day means to each of us.

Moreover, I am not sure I’m convinced that the kind of motherhood generally celebrated on Mother’s Day is inconsistent with the stories you mention of Eve, Kitty deRuyter’s mother, President Hinckley, or Elder Lee. Mother’s Day talks at church often do focus on the sunny side of mothering, but this is not always so. A couple of years ago, a young mother gave a talk in our sacrament meeting about what she had learned about the Savior from being a mother. Her talk focused on the “gritty, real, messy, tough, and unsentimental” challenges she faced on a daily basis. I thought her talk was profound and moving. Further, I don’t think anyone thought that her talk was out of step with what Mother’s Day is all about.

Holiday cards, TV specials, and talks in sacrament meeting often miss the mark–not just on Mother’s Day. I don’t see that as a particularly good reason for not liking the holiday.

It’s a cause of some sorrow to me that I seem to have so little in common with most of the smart Mormons I know. I like Mother’s Day. I like the speakers talking about their mothers and getting all choked up and the deacons passing around flowers and all that daffy ‘kiss-and-make-it-better’ and ‘the-secret-ingredient-is-love’ motherhood and mother thinking thankless thoughts about the dishes and the dinner are taken off her hands this one day, but little help she recieves the others, but being moved despite herself. I don’t know what I’m not seeing, that I keep thinking like this.

I guess I’ll just have to stick with my guns.
Sentiment has more value than you acknowledge, and motherhood is not to be thought unworthy because it is sometimes floral and pastel. Give me the jabbering.

It reminds me of a talk I gave as a priest on Mother’s Day. The premise was that I wanted to show the sacrifices my mother made for me. I talked about the endless nights she spent trying to console me annual bouts with bronchitis. I talked about the time she interrupted my playing on the tracks to rescue me from an oncoming train. I talked about the times she took me to the hospital with all my broken bones. I talked about her getting pregnant as a teenager and giving up a full university scholarship so she could raise me.

The sad part is that mothers expect—despite some receiving adoration throughout the year—to be honoured on this specific day. If they are admired not, all other admonition from the year is forgotten and they get upset they were “missed” on Mother’s Day. The fact they were acknowledged 100 other days with as much fanfare (cards, flowers, presents, breakfast in bed, etc) ends up being irrelevant.

I understand the sentiment behind the day, and it’s useful for those mothers whose husbands are inconsiderate or forgetful enough not to admire them at any other time of the year. However, it does not maker sense for those of us who do remember. In fact, the weaker of us men often find Mothers Day an excuse NOT to recognise their wives any other time.