In the spirit of motherhood

                As a general rule, I don’t believe in attributing one day to celebrate something or someone.  If you’re really into “the spirit of giving,” why do it only on December? If you really want to show someone your love and affection, why do it only on February? If you really want to honor the memories of our national heroes, why do it only on August? You get the idea. I don’t really appreciate these “holidays,” except for the fact that they’re your ticket to school holidays or days-off. However, the recent onslaught of “happy mothers’ day” greetings on my Facebook newsfeed got me thinking about mothers and why one greeting is borderline ungrateful and why one day (or even one month) is barely enough time to show them our gratitude, appreciation and love.

                I think a lot of people don’t realize that being a mother is a full-time job. Not only is it the most difficult job in the world, it’s also the most underpaid and underappreciated. I can’t really speak from experience because I’m not yet a mother myself. But based on what I’ve observed, it’s one heck of a career. First, let’s begin with the childbearing stage. Since my oldest sister, who after 7 years of trying, has finally gotten pregnant, she and mom began sharing pregnancy stories, which are not only gruesome and cringe-worthy, but have also rendered me horrified of the idea of being prego. I learned that in the first few months (or for some, for the whole term), preggy women would vomit so frequently, that they end up spewing yucky bile and acid; or if there’s really nothing in their stomach to expel anymore, they end up dry heaving. Just imagine how exhausting and not to mention disgusting that is. To describe it as ‘inconvenient’ would be an understatement. Next, for a few preggers, their sense of smell heightens to an extent that they could literally smell your fear. Ok, the last part wasn’t true, but their extra sensitive sense of smell would become so strong that the smell of dry poop for us would smell like a rotting septic tank to them. Couple that with morning sickness and BAM! You won’t be able to leave the bathroom anytime soon. Another interesting tidbit I learned was that, since the fetus growing in your tummy is sucking the nutrients such as calcium from your body, a pregger’s teeth would become extremely sensitive and throb with so much pain, it’s like they’re about to fall off your gums. Talk about agony! There were so much more grisly details about childbearing that I learned but the point is, right at the beginning, becoming a mother is difficult and excruciating. Imagine going through all that and being rewarded in the end with a stubborn, wild child. Haha!

                From that point onwards, it doesn’t get any easier. It gets a lot worse. I’ve only experienced babysitting my two-year-old nephew for 24 hours and I got sick the next day. Just goes to show that I’m not ready to take on that particular path. Then comes the teen years which is the most complicated and head-splitting part of child-rearing. I admit I was kind of a pain in the butt back then (until now, I think haha). I’m sure I’ve contributed a lot to my mother’s graying hair.

                I could go on and on about a mother’s woes but the only thing I’m trying to say is that a single greeting, a single day or month of appreciating our mothers is not nearly enough compared to the hours, days and years of rollercoaster rides they shared with us. I’m not really an expert on how to show gratitude. I admit I haven’t done that much lately. I guess I don’t really know how. But one thing I’m certain of: Mother’s Day is just a made-up gimmick by our every loving capitalist people to come up with extra profits. If you’re thankful of your mothers (or parents for that matter), don’t just show it on this day. Show it every day, every chance you get. Try washing the dishes for once, or doing your own laundry every once in a while. I think they’ll appreciate those efforts more than just saying “Happy Mother’s Day!”

(I should probably listen to my own advice. Haha.)