How was Mother's Day this year for everyone?
My siblings and I were afraid to ask Mum what she wanted for Mother's Day, because she would have probably replied, "Grandchildren." So we took her (and the rest of the family) out for a nice meal instead.
I must say that I found the Mother's Day marketing frenzy quite frightening this year.
Diamonds! Spa days! Perfume! Laser Skin Rejuvenation! This was not helped by radio DJs telling people what to buy in the weeks before, and then encouraging mothers to ring up and complain the day after if they thought the gifts the children got them were crappy.
Where does Mother's Day rank in terms of gift-giving? Lower than birthdays? Higher than Christmas? What about Valentine's Day? Good grief. What's going to be commercialised next? If retailers thought they could get away with it, they would probably take over Anzac Day as well. Luckily they've stopped at the biscuits.
I watched Alvin and the Chipmunks on Saturday night, and it was very enjoyable for a children's movie (unlike Curious George, which alternately bored or annoyed me--ha! I'm ready for your hate mail, CG fans). It didn't dumb things down, had plenty of material for the adults, and enough gags and stimulation for the kids.
In one of my favourite scenes, the chipmunks are giving Dave the Christmas presents they have made for him. Theodore's gift is a homemade card, and inside it is a picture of their family. The picture is laboriously drawn, a sacrifice of time and feeling; a heart's gift, and completely in the spirit of what Anna Jarvis, the creator of Mother's Day, envisioned for this special day.
"She expected us to do it with simple gestures - in her opinion, a single white carnation and a heartfelt letter were best."*
I think that sounds just wonderful.
* Reference: Mother's Day creator likely 'spinning in her grave', by Louisa Taylor, The Vancouver Sun, May 11, 2008.