I tend to have an aversion to contrived holidays like Valentine's Day and, yes, Mother's Day. It's not the sentiment nor the intent behind the holidays that turns me off, but the over-commercialization of the occasion. But then again, perhaps coming from a family for whom the mere mention of a Hallmark card is enough to elicit a collective shudder, it's not that surprising that I prefer to steer clear of anything that involves syrup and schmaltz served up in a greeting card.
Until I had kids, of course.
Maybe it's genetic, however, as thankfully my kids seem to prefer personalized greetings instead of the commercial variety. For their grandfather, who has been unwell of late, they made a montage of Hershey's kisses, which my nephew says he will have to spray with varnish and mount so the chocolate doesn't spoil.
So for Mother's Day, my kids presented me with the cutest powerpoint presentation, complete with a customized rap song just for Mom.
Then each daughter included a poem written just for me. From my 12 year old:
A poem for mom
GOD made a wonderful mother,
A mother who never grows old;
He made her smile of the sunshine,
And He molded her heart of pure gold;
In her eyes He placed bright shining stars,
In her cheeks, fair roses you see;
God made a wonderful mother,
And He gave that dear mother to me.
How sweet is that?
And this from my 8 year old:
L is for the lovely times we've had
O is for your nails that shine like an onyx
V is for the very big love you give me
E is for your extraordinary talents
And then they ended the powerpoint presentation with this very Zen statement:
Like yoga
You become one with your daughters
Admit it, this sure whips any Hallmark card's ass.
Happy Mother's Day Bambina!
Posted by: M Bautista | May 12, 2008 at 06:37 AM
Awww, that is so sweet! Makes me want to be a mother too! =)
Posted by: CD | May 15, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Hello,
Just passing through. It was sweet of your children to honor you, but I must point out that the poem, "God Made A Wonderful Mother", was written by Pat O'Reilly. This poem is all over the internet, and is on many commercial cards as well.
Posted by: Inday | July 28, 2008 at 03:22 PM
Yikes, Inday, you mean I'm raising budding plagiarists??? I'm grounding them for life!!! Thanks for pointing that out. I wouldn't have known. I did think the onyx thing was a bit off-key. No wonder. But at least the yoga simile is original... I think!!!
Posted by: bambinawrites | July 28, 2008 at 04:34 PM
i love the first poem its excellent!
Posted by: Sofie | February 01, 2009 at 06:28 AM