today is mother's day. now that i'm a parent myself, i feel that i'm allowed to have an opinion on that.

my opinion is that it's a load of bollocks.

mothering sunday, whilst having a bit more of a genuine history than father's day, is just such a card-manufacturer's holiday. it's like an excuse to have a second birthday at your children's expense. it's like saying, "here's your pocket money: now spend it on me".

as with valentine's day, i really feel that you should show your love and appreciation for your parents all year round. last week i was at home with isabel and she said, completely unprovoked, "when i grow up, i want to be just like you mummy!" horrifying though that prospect is*, it was still such a natural expression of her affection for me that i was really touched. that means so much more to me than a card, bought by matt, written by matt, purported to be from her.

adults that buy presents for each other on mother's day and father's day and then try to pretend that the gift is from their baby make me want to hurl.

when isabel grows up, i'm going to tell her not to bother with mothering sunday. i'm not so insecure that i need to guilt trip her into being nice to me.



* i hope that she grows up to be so much better than me. i want her to be happier, more ambitious, make better use of her talents, be more confident, more approachable, more successful, more beautiful, more considerate, more patient. i do have some of those attributes, to a degree, but i want her to have it all. i fear for the day that she comes home with a broken heart and shuts herself in her room and cries for hours. i swear to god it'll hurt me more than it'll hurt her.