AM~Erica is Still Against Forced Commercialized Sentiment Holidays

So anyway....

I've said several times before, and I'll say it again:
I am NOT fond of Mother's Day!

(reminder HERE)

I've not been overly eager for it for quite some time, but I think I gave up on it just a few years ago. One of the worst Mother's Days I'd ever experienced did me in & I gave up. Completely.

Now, if you read the above link, you will know there's several layers to this animosity I have toward this "holiday" & others like it.

And, in my previous post (HERE), I pointed out that this is my first grandparentless Mother's Day.

When helping the kids look for cards, I realized I wasn't looking for "Grandmother" cards to give. So I stood there crying in the card aisle at the store. Wow, I guess I was having a really difficult time. And then when we got home from the store, a cardinal was sitting by our garage that was startled when the garage door began to raise. When I realized what bird had flown off....*sigh* yep, queue more tears. (see why HERE if you didn't get to it from the previous link)

On top of that, I hadn't been feeling the greatest. I was tired from an overnight trip to the lake, and just in general after trying to get over a migraine.
Today probably might have been a good day to skip church. But I didn't. And I apologize to anyone who I didn't encounter so well today.

Look....on this day, I do a disappearing act at church. I didn't do as well this morning. Some know how I feel about the day. There's others who either forget, or just want to tell any female, "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!" So, I try to disappear and then come back in time to take in worship. I generally know that I can get into my flow of worship & not worry about the confrontation. I know that sounds so bad, but I do the same thing when I'm having a down day on Sunday anyway.

But this morning, a few folks found me anyway...and at a lot of different points during the morning. *sigh* And not feeling the best....and how I feel about the day....not sure I was at my best toward others today.

Regardless of what congress put into place...I don't want to feel forced to appreciate someone for a day. It's not a law!! But we still fall into the practice anyway....

My hubby & kiddos know how I feel about it, as you can probably guess. But they "show appreciation" in the trap of the holiday anyway. On the positive, I did get some awesome things...and I'm going to get one of my fave dinners fixed for me. So there's that.

I want to be clear about something: I do appreciate the sentiments. I really do. I just don't want them because the calendar says you have to. I'm all about celebrations! Right? I celebrate a whole lot of things...but when it comes to moms, dads & true loves....you should do that a whole lot more often than the once a year the calendar says to.

So, as I stated on my Facebook account status this morning:

"Per the usual, I am not fond of Mother's Day for a myriad of reasons, as several of you may know/remember. 

But with that said... 

To all the moms, grandmoms, great-grandmoms, great-great-grandmoms, rookie moms, veteran moms, mom-in-laws, stepmoms, single moms, single dads also trying to be mom, moms-to-be, adoptive moms, foster moms, surrogate moms, those trying to become moms, those who want to be moms, moms who lost any of their own, those struggling as moms, fur baby moms, and pseudo moms: may you be loved and appreciated for all you do, try to do, and failures in your trials every single day. May today be as beautiful as it should be every other day with your family, as the sentiments should go beyond just one day out of the year. You are loved, you are appreciated, and we are grateful for you & each other."

And I stand by that.

Also, if someone says they don't like something, generally you should stop doing the thing they don't like. Right? So, when I make it clear I'm not fond of the day, but thank you anyway....don't keep coming at me & telling me why I'm wrong in my feeling of this. 

Now, not that I'm not proud to be a mom...that is far-Far-FAR from any truth! I just know I would rather be appreciated at random times rather than feeling forced to because cards, commercials, and a calendar notification tells you otherwise. Because if that's the case...do you mean it today more than any other day? Something to think on.

I'm not the only one with yucky feelings about it, either. Check out this post (that I just discovered after writing this post...I had to come back & include it with mine):

click the pic to go to the blog link

If you are smothering someone with sentiments because the calendar says so, but you don't show it any other time...it's an ugly thing. Fake sentiments don't set well.

Plus...I'm not feeling the greatest (in case you missed me saying it earlier). So I'll try to get over that part pretty quickly. I can't say so much over fake holidays with forced commercialized sentiments attached.

That was a lot to unload. If you're still with me...thanks. Just another facet of the realist side of my heart. 

Now I guess I'm going to go enjoy a favorite meal. Hopefully because my hubby wants to fix it for me...not just because the calendar said so....

(and be sure to check out the links....they are important to the message of this post)

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica