Mother’s Day Boycott – Genius or Evil Idea?
By Neal Frankle
I love the moms in my life – but I am very anti-Mother’s Day.
In fact, my wife and I rarely ever buy each other presents or cards. This is especially true on the holidays that celebrate our national procreative abilities. We think that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day were both created for Hallmark…not for us. We just don’t think we need a holiday to remind us to appreciate each other and the other people in our lives.
I call my adopted mom and dad every week – and yes…on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day too. But I refuse to spend money on these days. This may seem like a total conflict with my comments on Monday about the virtues of spending lavishly on important events. But I don’t see any conflict whatsoever. These “holidays” don’t have a lot of meaning for us. What do you think?
Am I villain or a hero for taking a stand against Mother’s Day? On to less controversial subjects – the weekly review:
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You are absolutely right, why do we need be reminded about Mother’s Day when really everyone should be like that. Appreciating your mom is something we should or already do everyday.
And yes, this occasion is purely for business, and people think that by buying stuff, you are making her feel better. Yeah you are for a few hours.
I am going to include this article for next weeks link round up on my blog, awesome stuff.
Thanks…..
We are an army of two…so far!
Who else is with me and Tom?
I’m with you also. My hubby and I feel that it was created as a hallmark holiday. All I want is a hug from my son and help planting the garden. I don’t even want breakfast in bed! I’ll call my Mom (I call her a few times a week anyway) and hubby will call his Mom. Why would we need to spend $4 on a card to say I love you!
We are up to 3! That’s a 50% increase!!!! Who else???? Who else??? Nice job Nancy
Hi Neal,
Here is the history of Mothers Day in the USA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)
I think the issue is not Hallmark or money but Honor. I think if the only time you thank your Mother is Mothers day, you probably don’t really honor your Mother. But if you do express it continually, whether you honor your Mother on Mothers Day is really about knowing if it is important to your Mother. My Mother and my wife, both love Mothers day with all the gifts and flowers. But this is an expression of the overflow of my heart toward these two women.
My daughters also love expressing love to their Mother all the time, but also on Mothers day because she really values being honored by them.
If a spring only gives water once a year, its probably really dry and what is gives yearly is probably muddy.
Creating a culture of honor in my family is one of the best ways of showing how important people are and that they are the real treasure.
Tim
Dear Neal,
I do enjoy your blog and find it very informative. Yet, I must tell you I am disappointed in you. And I hope that you know better than to accuse someone(s) of something without any research. Despite that, Hallmark didn’t invent the ‘holiday’. A quick google search would have informed you of that fact. The idea of honoring Mothers is centuries old.
I do agree that Mother’s Day has become over commercialized, as have most of the holidays. My suggestion is to boycott the commercialized portion of holidays. (Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.) Celebrating a loved one does not require large sums of monies. Sincere words and deeds are often the best gifts.
Tim Wright said very nicely expressed this in his comment: Creating a culture of honor in my family is one of the best ways of showing how important people are and that they are the real treasure.”
Jan
Jan,
You are right. Hallmark did not create the holiday. I was trying to wax poetic…and I got stuck.
I appreciate you bringing this up and I’ll try to be more accurate going forward.
More important, I agree with your distinction. Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater. It is good and important to honor our loved ones. I really try to do that daily as I’m sure you do. But having a focus day probably isn’t a bad idea at all.
Tim,
You nailed it. Really well said.
Thanks to you both,
Neal