To get my first Mothers’ day quibble out of the way, the apostrophe goes at the end of Mothers because the day belongs to all mothers, not just one. But, as long as you’re letting your mom know how much you appreciate her, I’ll let it slide.
It’s a hard day for me since my mom died. I want to revel in the appreciation my children show me, all the while, wanting to hide in the bedroom all day crying. I miss my mom, as much as anyone who’s lost his or her mom does. You may appreciate your mom, but you can’t really understand how important she is until you don’t have her anymore.
I’ll be staying at home, cooking for my children, again this year. I have been every year since the year we went to Red Lobster. I have nothing against Red Lobster; they were doing the best they could under the circumstances. What I realized there, and what had been an issue for me at every Mothers’ Day dinner out, was that on Mothers’ Day too many people want to take their mothers out, and too many people haul along children that have no experience going out. I felt like I was in Chuck E. Cheese, the maniacal birthday party factory. Every ten years, I swear I’ll never go back to Chuck E. Cheese again. After ten years, I forget, think ‘Oh, how silly of me,’ and go back. I imagine Chuck E. Cheese is one of the places that encourages the type of behavior in children in public that drives me nuts. I have no problem with taking children to eat in nice restaurants, even in restaurants much nicer than Red Lobster. If you want your children to act appropriately in public, you have to take them there and train them to behave. I understand that even the best children misbehave sometimes, which is not the issue for me. My number one quibble is the parents who let their children run around the restaurant, as though every adult will be as enamored by their children as they are and let their children stand in the seats, do disgusting things with their food or their bodies (and then laugh and encourage it), or bang on the table with the cutlery. Because parents who let their kids act inappropriately in public drives me crazy, I was miserable every Mothers’ Day we went out. So now, I cook at home like mom’s do and leave those whirling dervishes alone.
Happy Mothers’ Day!
