Mother's Day...

It's Mother's Day, but I've never really done much for it. Ever. It's just something my family doesn't really do. Same goes for Father's Day. My parents aren't overly fussed because both my Dads' and my Mums' parents thought both were "too American", plus Mother's Day always falls close to my brothers' birthday, so that weekend is usually spent celebrating him. (Here are more reasons not to make too much fuss.) We still say "Happy Mother's Day" and "Happy Father's Day", but we rarely do anything more than that.

This isn't to say we don't show our appreciation for our parents, we just did it everyday, while we were all living at home, usually more than once a day. Everyday was ended with "G'night, love you", unless Dad had slipped off to bed while we were watching something he didn't want to watch. Birthdays were, and still are, celebrated, my parents wedding anniversary is always marked in some way or other, and Christmas is always a family day, where presents are thoughtfully chosen to help us show our appreciation. I still tell my parents that I love them at the end of every phone call. If it's done daily, why go to all that fuss and stress because someone in a marketing department decided it was a good idea?

While Michael and I were in Samoa as Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development, way back in 2008, we saw how the Samoans do Mother's Day and Father's Day. Mother's Day was huge. Just huge. There was cake and celebrations and gifts. Father's Day was a little quieter, but it was still bigger there than in Australia. Bigger still was White Sunday, or Children's Day. It was really, really huge. Everyone wore white, the children put on a show for their parents at their churches, the children were given new clothes and shoes, and just generally showered with attention. And Christmas Day? It was a religious celebration, nothing much more than that, because all of the present giving had been done during the year. There's a part of me that likes it that way. Birthdays are still celebrated in Samoa, but Mother's Day, Father's Day, and White Sunday are national celebrations, and the fuss seemed welcome and truly festive.

So, what are we doing? Well, I've been feeling a little run down, I think it's a cold, and Michael is a bit tired, so we're keeping things to a minimum. Friday evening we talked to my brother, sister, Mum, and Dad, because they were all together for my brothers' birthday. Saturday saw Michael looking after Jimmy for 30 minutes here, an hour there, giving me some alone time. And it's been lovely. I'm still a little run down, but I've been able to nap with the whole bed to myself, clean the bathroom without worrying that Jimmy will wake up when I turn on a tap (it happens...), and cook dinner without constant interruptions requests for my attention. Plus Michael made me pancakes both Saturday and Sunday. Me time, plus pancakes? It's the best Mother's Day gift.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend, whatever you're doing.