"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one. "
~John Lennon


Saturday, May 12, 2012

Thank You, Mom



Did my mom make mistakes when I was her young child to raise? Uh, yep. Is she a saint? Uh, nope.

Did I make mistakes raising my children? Of course. No need to even ask the saint question.


This Sunday,  mothers are treated to the tradition of special attention from their children. Of course the day is a commercial jackpot and I don't begrudge the stores and flower shops and candy companies. Moms work at those places and moms need the jobs to support the kids.

It is a day of sharing in a way. I share the day with my mother and with my children who have their own children. I reach out to my mother with cards, gifts, phone calls, thanking her for trying her best with the tools she had at the time to be my mom. I let go of old hurts and resentments long ago. Hanging on to those was so unhealthy for me and hurtful to my mother. Having been a single mom I have hands on experience with the difficulties of working to support a family and having the energy and resources to have some quality time with the children I loved and missed all the hours I had to work.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, from your hippie daughter. Thank you for knowing I was always following my own music. Thank you for the help you have given me through the years.

Thank you, my dearest children, for the Mother's Day cards and gifts. I gladly accept your wonderful tokens with the belief you reach out to me in love and appreciation and not just obligation or habit.

Enjoy your Mother's Day fun with your own children, my dear daughters.

This is the Circle Of Life.



P.S. My son also honors me on Father's Day, he says that I was both mother and father to him and he is grateful for my understanding the nature of a boy and encouraging him. Pretty cool, huh.

18 comments:

Lisa said...

Your son is awesome to honor you on Fathers Day too. Happy Mothers Day CiCi.

LL Cool Joe said...

It isn't Mother's day in the UK, we've already had that in March. But I hope you have a wonderful day, and yes your son is very cool! Well you are too!

DJan said...

Happy Mother's Day, CiCi! Although my son is gone now, he always called me on Mother's Day, no matter where in the world he was. You are so fortunate to have your mother with you; I still miss mine, but she's also with me in spirit. Hugs and kisses! :-)

Jeanie said...

It is always interesting to me to hear how mother-daughter relationships evolve over the years, maybe because my mother died when I was young. You are smart to let go of old hurts and resentments.
Have a happy Mother's Day.

Jeni said...

Although it took me a while to understand the "whys" behind many of my Mom's actions, when I did comprehend that, I realized she was only doing what she felt was right, what she had learned from her own Mother but had expanded some of that knowledge a bit with me. I tried not to replicate some of what I thought were my Mom's most egregious errors -mainly always giving criticism but not constructively. Did I succeed? Sort of. My Mom operated at a disadvantage in that I was her only child, whereas I had three and learned a few extra things about dealing with children because I had two more methods to use to learn from! What works for one, may fail ultra-grandly with another, ya know! Today, my older daughter still has a lot of resentments towards me, my son is finally beginning to mature (somewhat anyway) and my younger daughter and I often say the same thing at the same time when talking to the grandkids -great minds think alike, ya know -but when that happens we both look at each other and say "This is getting scary, really scary!" My kids don't realize fully as yet how much they mirror me -whether they want to admit, much less like that or not! Happy Mother's Day, Cici!

Tawnya Smith said...

Happy Mother's Day from this fellow flawed mom. :D

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Beautiful post. ((HUGS))
Happy Mother's Day

stephen Hayes said...

If your son is any indication, you must have been, and still are, one fabulous mother. Happy Mother's Day to you.

Abby said...

Happy Mother's Day, CiCi! This was a very sweet and appropriate post. It's not about the cards and chocolates, etc!

And early Happy Father's Day too. How great that your son appreciates you.

Brian Miller said...

happy mothers day cici...smiles...that first pic is so cute...hehe...i hope that all mothers feel the love tomorrow....and smiles..i think you did fine...

Stickup Artist said...

Letting go is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. It is so liberating not to play the tired old tapes in one's head and get caught up in the loops of the past. I think your kids are lucky to have you and vice versa. A Happy Mother's Day to you!

Maggie May said...

Happy Mother's Day, Cici......
We had ours in England earlier in the year.
Loved your pictures.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Happy Frog and I said...

It may not be mother's day in the UK but I wish you a very happy one in the States. x

Bill Lisleman said...

Single parents need to be a little of both. Nice post and Happy Mother's Day

Liz Mays said...

Happy Mother's Day, CiCi! I love that you get the double nod from your son. That's pretty cool!

Do you still consider yourself a hippie? That's kinda cute.

Joanna Jenkins said...

Hi CiCi, I thought this was a lovely Mother's Day post filled with kindness, grace and much love. Then I got to the end and was blown away by your son's thoughtfulness. He clearly is his mother's son and a very cool guy.

xoxxo jj

Hilary said...

What a gem your son is to honour you on Father's Day too. Of course, apples don't fall far from the tree. I hope you and yours had a lovely Mother's Day, dear CiCi. :)

terri said...

You know you've done your job as a parent when you're honored as both the mother and the father!