Mother’s Day is not all chocolates and roses

IT’S no surprise that Mother’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday with the usual materialistic and commercialised flair.

Gifts, pampering, dinners, flowers and more will be bestowed on the mothers of the country.

And why not, for those who can afford it?

After all, and especially in the case of working moms, they deserve plenty of spoiling for what they do and endure on behalf of their families – much of which often goes unnoticed or is taken for granted.

Although the emphasis of Mother’s Day should not be confused with that of Women’s Day – a far more serious remembrance of the part women played in the emancipation of the nation – there is nevertheless much about Sunday that should lead to introspection and reflection.

In order for those who are in the enviable position of being able to make a special day of the occasion, others such as domestic workers – who are also mothers and daughters - may have to be called in to ‘hold the fort’.

For many this will be just another day of routine and the never-ending drudgery of the homemaker, with no time or money for pampering.

Other moms will be rueing broken relationships with their children; perhaps even children who left the nest and have not been heard of since.

Some mothers will have witnessed their children abandoning a useful life after delving into drugs.

Many people have lost their mothers in the past, and for them this day will bring back bitter-sweet memories.

Again, some mothers – and the statistics don’t lie – will spend the day in fear of an abusive husband and father, as they try to protect themselves and their offspring.

And there’s the special hardship of single mothers who have a special battle to survive and thrive.

The bottom line for Mother’s Day would really be that the best gifts for our selfless mothers, regardless of their situation, would be those that can’t be bought: thankfulness, appreciation, help, understanding, and all those abstract ‘little things’ that are ultimately the big things.

Mothers are blessed to have children, who in turn are blessed to have mothers.