Wanna make your mum happy? Here's how (hopefully)

Okay, we love our mothers, and, as kids, we can be awkward about showing it. However, that doesn’t mean every mall in town has to play the songs non-stop or that we all have to take our mums out to crowded restaurants on the same day, where they look puzzled and out of place. We are a nation that already cherishes family values, so why over-hype them?

Do we really need to be reminded that much about how much our mothers love us? If the answer is “yes”, something is seriously wrong. (With us, not with them, of course.) We aren’t supposed to shed tears of thanks once a year, enriching makers of consumer products in the process. We are supposed to go easy on the show of gratitude, and make it last beyond a few days in August.

In many cases, an “awareness” campaign is a good thing. Yet when it comes to those who are “aware” of us all the time and until their very last breath, a campaign is at best ironic and at worst ridiculous. You might ask why, then, don’t we just scrap Mother’s Day altogether, although I don’t have a clear-cut answer to that. I can only quote someone who said that, since every day of the year is “Children’s Day” from a mother’s perspective, giving her one day off is sensible.

I agree with the day off, but we shouldn’t overdo it. Maybe it’s just me, but overdoing it can hardly make the object of our affection truly happy. They will be glad, certainly, to get a card, or phone call, or garland in August, but imagine how they would feel if we called incessantly every day or cooked for them every week.

To me at least, the “Outstanding Mother” awards so beloved of media outlets and department-store events aren’t a good idea. We can’t in actual fact pinpoint which mother is “the best” or “better”. Every mum faces different circumstances, but the bottom line is that she will do the same thing as any other mother when need be.

Perhaps the best way to make our mothers happy is for us to be happy ourselves. We don’t need to sing songs or make a show of our appreciation. Live a good life and be content – that’s all it takes. Dare I say it, tell lies if you have to.

Nobody is guaranteed a good life, and each of us has his fair share of misery regardless of what our mother does. I guess “white lies” stem from this. They were invented by kids who needed to soften the blow of poor grades or other misfortunes at school. Now, take a step further. White lies are good, but they must be told to convince our mothers that they have nothing to worry about us – our jobs or our married life.

It’s controversial advice, but don’t get me wrong: I’m not promoting lying or hiding. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t turn to the shoulder you can always cry on. I’m only asking you to keep in mind that if you feel miserable about ANYTHING, the person who will be doubly miserable about it is your mother. Yes, pretend to be happy if you have to. She will forgive you if she finds out, anyway.

The supplements are good, but nothing on their labels say we can only buy them in August. Better than the supplements is a happy-looking “You” having the simplest of meals with them. Our hugs are surely 10 times better than the vitamins, but they have to be constant and year-round, like their love. 

I’m at an age when I know both why the “mom songs” have to be rerun over and over and also why it’s totally unnecessary. But I only know that much. It isn’t easy to love our mothers back properly, because their eyes see past everything except our well-being. 

Their kind of love probably even transcends that of the Almighty.

They say “God loves you”, but the thing is you may go to hell if he doesn’t like what you do very much. Our mothers, on the other hand, would take our places in hell in an instant and no matter what. Such is the reality of unconditional love.