 | |
| Me & my super awesome son! |
I really don't like when people offer to do things for me on Mother's Day just because I'm a single mom. Sound ungrateful. Well, read to the end, then decide.
In real life, I usually smile, accept what's offered and try to get back to my life as soon as possible, but I have a blog now. So I'm venting.
I don't like the assumption that single moms are overworked, poor, uneducated, tired & desperate. That they must be sitting at home on Mother's Day lamenting not having a true family. (Since being an unwed mother in 2011 is just as awful as it was in 1911 pre-woman's suffrage movement.)
Often people offer to cook for me. I actually make most of my food at home from scratch from organic vegan ingredients so it usually puts me in an awkward situation. Steak dinner anyone? Why not, it's expensive & single moms should accept expensive gifts no matter what since they're all super poor. Right?
Other times people offer to 'take' my son off of my hands for the day. It's okay people. I like him. I really really like him. Also, I am a single stay at home mom. Randomly offering to 'take' my kid for the day usually means I end up sitting alone staring at my walls (I have no TV after all) counting the minutes until my son returns. He's my primary mode of entertainment. A day without him feels more like a punishment than a gift. But, uh, thanks for the 'break.'
Sometimes people buy me things. A sure sign that they haven't got the slightest idea of who I am. As a carfree anti-consumerist mama I usually just end up going through the inconvenience of finding transportation to a Goodwill or recycling center so I can get rid of it. Way to help out a single mom that you probably already assumed was pressed for time.
But, the last reason is one that goes for all gifts, not just gifts for single moms.
"The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value." ~Charles Dudley Warner
Why should a single mom go out of her way on Mother's Day to make you feel good about doing something for her. That isn't a gift to her, that's a gift to yourself.
So, the next time you think about knocking on the door of a single mom on Mother's Day stop and think again.
Namaste,
Ani
