Monday, March 19, 2007

Mother's Day


In the United Kingdom, yesterday (18th March) was Mother's Day. It's also known as Mothering Sunday. The exact day is actually determined by the forth week after Lent, and three weeks prior to Easter Sunday. However, back in 'ol Malaysia, Mother's Day is celebrated (most commercially) on the second Sunday of May.

Mother's Day is not one to be remembered with cards, flowers, chocolates, cakes and gifts. It's not just about treating your mom to an expensive dinner in a five-star hotel. Indeed, it would be nice to be able to do any of the following as a gesture of appreciation but I have always taken Mother's Day as a day to reflect on how I've turned out. Other than the physical stress a mother has to undertake, a mother often goes through a turmoil of emotional turns. The role demands a lot of patience, sacrifice, selflessness, understanding, care, love, nurture and of course, the believe in Allah the Almighty. Every new year, I renew my resolution to become a better mother because I do not want my children to have bad memories of me. I had my mother for only 4 years and I am quite sure that if she had lived longer, she would be a great role-model.

What a mother should be (by carlisa smith )

A mother is the one who loves you

A mother puts no drug above you

A mother will never make you cry

A mother will never make you want to die

A mother will help you fight your fears

A mother will help you stop your tears

A mother will keep you safe and sound

A mother will never let you down

A mother will daily say I love you

A mother won’t say I hate you

A mother won’t wish you were dead

A mother won’t forget what you said

A mother won’t close the door

A mother won’t let you be poor

Now I ask you, do you have a mother?

Cause’ I don’t, so don’t bother.


To my children, thank you for being wonderful and I hope that I can be something you are proud of.
To all mothers out there, hang on and be the best you can!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I (and a group of mothers) will celebrate Mother's Day by being with other moms taking care of their sick children at a hospital. Will annouce it soon in my blog.
It touches my heart when you wrote you don't want your kids to have bad memories of you...I should do some reflecting myself

mama23beas

Mama Sarah said...

waaaa that poem is so touching...

yeah, i kept on hoping and wishing that my children will be proud of me. But why am i still talking on top of my voice all the time??? huhuhu....

As you said, hang on...

IBU said...

HAPPY MOTHERING DAY ....

silversarina said...

Tak terhitung jasa ibu.....

Dulu masa anak-anak I masih kecik I selalu ajar diaorang cakap...
'saya sayang mama infinity' , tak taulah sekarang dah ada sukatan ke tak sayang diaorang kat I, kalau masih infinity, syukur....

Happy Mother's Day to you D mommy.

D said...

mama23beas,
looking forward to read about your experience.

mamasarah,
yeah... not easy looking for a poem that wasn't only about Mom's being great. This one is a reminder to mothers - as a checklist.

ibu,
Selamat Hari Ibu, Ibu!!

loveujordan,
I'm sure that even though diorang tak cakap verbally, they love you infinity...

k.d said...

D, I'm sorry you lost your mom at such tender age. It made me appreciate my time with my mom greatly...and reflect how lucky I was...

Good reminder...have to be more...more....MORE patient with my kids...

Lee said...

Hi D, happy mother's day!
Here's a smile for you..
Parent Definitions:

Words that you or I would commonly use for one meaning, have a completely different meaning to parents in a family...

AMNESIA: condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to have sex again.
BOTTLE FEEDING: an opportunity for Daddy to get up at 2 AM too.
DEFENSE: what you'd better have around the yard if you're going to let the children play outside.
DROOLING: how teething babies wash their chins.
DUMB WAITER: one who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.
FAMILY PLANNING: the art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you from falling into financial disaster.
FEEDBACK: the inevitable result when a baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.
FULL NAME: what you call your child when you're mad at him.
GRANDPARENTS: the people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.
HEARSAY: what toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.
IMPREGNABLE: a woman whose memory of labor is still vivid.
INDEPENDENT: how we want our children to be as long as they do everything we say.
LOOK OUT!: when it's too late for your child to do it by the time you scream it.
OWWW: the first word spoken by children with older siblings.
PRENATAL: when your life was still somewhat your own.
PREPARED CHILDBIRTH: a contradiction in terms.
PUDDLE: a small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes.
SHOW OFF: a child who is more talented than yours.
STERILIZE: what you do to your first baby's pacifier by boiling it and to your last baby's pacifier by blowing on it.
STOREROOM: the distance required between the supermarket aisles so that children in shopping carts can't quite reach anything.
TEMPER TANTRUMS: what you should keep to a minimum so as not to upset the children.
THUNDERSTORM: a chance to see how many family members can fit into one bed.
TOP BUNK: where you should never put a child wearing Superman jammies.
TWO-MINUTE WARNING: when the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.
VERBAL: able to whine in words.
WEAKER SEX: the kind you have after the kids have worn you out.
WHODUNIT: none of the kids that live in your house.
WHOOPS: an exclamation that translates roughly into "get a sponge".

You have a nice day, D. Best regards, Uncle Lee.

13may said...

selamat selamat:)

Helena said...

"A mother will never make you cry"

Well, I said something to my girl yesterday that made her cry. I felt bad, but I just want her to change her attitude.

She said to me "Mama, janganla cakap macam tu..."

I really felt bad.... but I think she needs to hear it from me.

Happy Mother's Day.

Intan said...

while i was reading the poem, i wondered how old the poet was because she wrote it the way only a child would write... mother's, unfortunately, are only human and we will try to do our best.

happy mother's day!

Ungku Nor said...

Selamat Hari Menjadi Ibu Mithali, dear D!

D said...

kd,
yes, any prescriptions for that?

Uncle Lee,
hilarious!! Excellent collection! Thanks...

13may,
er... selamat apa? HaHa..

helena,
I think there are many reasons you can make one cry and yours must have been a valid one. I think the poet probably meant crying because of hurt and disappointment. Cheer up!

intan,
you're right - I think it was written by a youngster. So, it's her innocent thoughts and wishes.

kak ungku,
ibu mithali.... InsyaAllah.

Unknown said...

Hi D,

I participated in an inter-alumni debate. The topic was, 'the success of a child owes more to the mother than the father'.

'God can't be everywhere, therefore HE made mothers'! ~Jewish proverb.

I used the above proverb, toungue in cheek, to rile the opponents, and at the same time I just wanted us to be open-minded and look everywhere for wisdom.

Anyway I was so glad the audience took this in a light vein and it went down quite hilarious.

I was warned not to use this as it might not be too politically correct with the crowd. I told them I will be responsible for my content and went ahead.

Anyway, Happy Mother's day.

Makcik Runner said...

happy mother's day. didnt know u lost yr mom at age 4. do u have pictures of her?

donno lah, my heart becomes really soft hearing kids lost their mom at such tender age. its my weak spot.

Anonymous said...

Look out this word today - nuance..and I like Mothering Sunday better than Mother's Day already..sorry to hear about ur mom - you don't need to learn from a role-model. Nature do it best! (But also ponder about the mak who strangle her two sons & just in today's TheStar - a mom set fire to herself bcoz of her children or something -whateer is happening to this world?)

Er, let us see the hidden Picasso in you. You might be our next Van Gogh ke...

The prev. entry on teaching - I couldn't agree with you more! rad

D said...

ruby,
you took part in an inter-alumni debate? Waaahh... Must've been real exciting! Well done!

kc,
Yeah, I do have pictures of her because I'm sure if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to rely on my memory. Hey, don't feel sorry for me.. I've survived. Losing a mom at a tender age always reminds me to be a better mom. I sometimes feel that there must be a blessing that my mom had passed away because I might just hurt her if she was around!

rad,
you're absolutely right. It's so easy to find mothers with sick feelings in the heart. A strong grip on religion is lacking everywhere. Pray that we survive...

Darling said...

kalau compare my mum & my dad, i lagi rapat dengan my dad (late dad actually)

tapi now i try harder to make my mum happy. thou she said that she eppy but sometime i just scared if i had done anything wrong.

bila tak nak jadi anak derhaka ni yang payah. sometime terasa its killing me slowly. gosh! ampun mum.. (my parents said me yg paling tak pernah sakitkan hati dorang, so kena kekalkan le)

aNIe said...

d....terlambat nak wish u Happy Mothers Day....

Moga u sentiasa menjadi kebanggaan anak2 u...

Kak lady dah takde ibu jugak...ibu pergi meninggalkan kami 14 tahun lalu...tapi kasihnya masih segar dalam hati ini...