Mothers earn honors every day

Mother’s Day is a day we each relate to in a different way.

Mothers who have children at home have the opportunity of receiving special recognition at the beginning of the day. Perhaps the child made a card or a gift at school, or perhaps the child picked or selected a flower for the occasion.

Mothers who have children away from home may receive a phone call, a special visit or a letter they will open today.

Many of us recall special memories that we cherish and think of the many things our mothers mean to us.

One of the special memories of Mother’s Day in my childhood is the flower I wore on my lapel of my jacket when we went to church on Mother’s Day. I grew up in a Texas town where roses were usually blooming by this time, and we snipped a bud from one of our bushes. Over the years I have continued this tradition and my children now follow it.

My mother also wore a flower that changed from red to white after her own mother died.

Mother never cooked dinner on Mother’s Day. She picked her favorite restaurant, and we celebrated by helping her get out of the kitchen.

It always seemed to me that our minister had just the right message for my mom, and we knew she felt as we certainly did that she was special. That feeling gave her a special radiance that carried through the whole day.

After completing my training in psychology and beginning my practice, I began to appreciate even more the things my mother accomplished during her years of rearing three children, teaching school, giving piano lessons, playing the organ and assisting my father in his business endeavors.

She became an expert on time management, parenting, dealing with stress, managing people and counseling students and parents. In juggling all these roles in her life, she always made her children feel loved and nurtured.

When you stop and think about it, every day should be Mother’s day. In today’s society many mothers work outside the home, many mothers are single parents and there are those who are married but whose spouse is not very supportive. In all cases, however, “motherhood sledding” can get pretty rough. Making appropriate decisions, dealing with stress and trying to maintain their own sense of self-worth can be difficult. However, I don’t think many of them would change places with anyone.

Fathers, let’s help our children stretch Mother’s Day into Mother’s Week, Mother’s Month and Mother’s Year. It’s true the calendar only marks one day as Mother’s Day, but that’s just a piece of paper and a date set many years ago to make moms feel special.

For those of us whose mothers have completed the years of child rearing, let us remember to make our mothers feel special by expressing our gratitude and appreciation for all the years they toiled and sacrificed in our behalf.

“I love you Mother very much, and you are special to me,” is a good start. But let’s move ahead from there and extend these feelings past today, into tomorrow and the day after that.