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Mom on strike: Where is my Mother's Day present?!
Here are four words that have really ticked me off this week: "Happy Belated Mother's Day.'' Or, as it was put to me the day after my gift-less Mother's Day: "Happy Mother's Day Week,'' the implication being that sometime in the span of seven days, I might get the token of appreciation I deserve.
Flowers and a messy table cancel each other out,
don't you think?
Yes, that's right. Even though Mother's Day is printed on all calendars in America, and advertisers have sent a lot of ideas in the mail that my husband could have caught onto, I was snubbed.
Only Lily, my 7-year-old, remembered Momma. She brought home three Mom's Day presents she had made at school. (That included a poem with these lines "my love for you is as humongous as a tiger's roar, and as everlasting as the deep, blue ocean's floor.'' Nice!)
The two males in the house acted like any other day. I had to pout for 24 hours to get belated Mother's Day flowers, set on a table Monday night in a horrendously messy kitchen. I looked at them and went to bed. It was only 8:30 p.m. I never got up. I was on strike.
Creed, who is 13, is way past the age when he might write me a poem. But couldn't he have cleaned the kitchen? A friend of mine was treated to a rose petal bath by her teen-age son. That hurts!
Creed was asking me for something Monday morning and I told him, "Tell whoever you gave a Mother's Day card to. Maybe she'll listen.''
I don't think I'm overreacting. A Mom Strike feels just right.
There is no such thing as a belated Mother's Day gift. If you missed the opportunity to honor a mother on the day that is designated as such, then it's a Mother's Day apology.
Help me feel sorrier for myself -- tell me what wonderful gifts your family heaped upon you. Anyone?
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez loves to worry, or so her husband says...
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of three blonde, blue-eyed kids all under six years old.
Comments
Let me get this started by saying that friends have reported to me receiving a watch, a book (and Dad babysat the kids all day), and another said she got a Macy's gift card.
Posted by: Brittany Wallman | May 12, 2009 10:53 AM
I received a necklace, chocolate covered strawberries, roses and brunch at Cheesecake Factory. However, about three days before Mother's Day I brought up to my husband to remember I don't like his attempts to get funny cards I like sentimental mushy cards. He responded with, "Am I suppose to get you a card you're not my mother." After a few hours of the stink eye he snapped right into the program. Next year make sure to mention what you expect from them ahead of time. A nice, "oh I can't wait to get some pretty flowers on Sunday for Mother's Day" is a good place to start. I know you shouldn't have to but that's life.
Posted by: ain't to proud to beg | May 12, 2009 5:01 PM
You are so right, and I ain't too proud to beg, either! I messed up by not planting the seed about a week ahead of time. Another friend of mine said she got a workout set, crab leg dinner and something else I was jealous of but can't remember now.
Posted by: Brittany Wallman | May 12, 2009 5:04 PM
Brittany, I got a cool pair of yellow and aqua Converse sneakers.
I'll wear them to work and do a fashion show just for you!
Posted by: Joy | May 12, 2009 8:38 PM
I bought my own mother's day gift the week before - character shoes (I'm going to be in the parents' dance in my daughter's dance recital this year!) So, I let my husband off the hook, because the shoes were a cost we weren't expecting. Would have been nice to get a card or flowers, but at least he made breakfast.
My mother's day gift from my daughter was belated, but I forgave her considering she was home sick from school Thursday and Friday. She promptly brought home her handmade gift on Monday.
Posted by: Erin | May 12, 2009 9:11 PM
Apparently at my house, Happy Mother's Week means the house will be messier than ever and everyone will be mean to me. Signed, Still on Strike.
Posted by: Brittany Wallman | May 13, 2009 10:49 AM
Being separated with two small kids means nobody gets you anything for mother's day. Don't complain; at least you have a husband.
Posted by: Single mom | May 14, 2009 5:34 AM
Three years ago, my son was the one forgetting things like Mother's Day and my birthday. He's a 22 year old Marine now and married, he doesn't live nearby so..knowing that I like getting flowers delivered he sends me tulips (my favorite flower - something I didn't even think he knew) and that's without the wife's input - this Mother's Day she forgot Mother's Day. I'm going to give credit to maturity and the Marine Corps.
Posted by: Diane | July 1, 2009 9:10 PM