Yes, I am a crank about Mother’s Day. I know not everyone is. I think I’ve been a little jaded about Mother’s Day for most of my adult life but my views became toadily solidified during the YAG years.

During my years as a youth theatre administrator, we did a major play every spring in a venerable local theatre here on the U of M campus, the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Because we were usually able to obtain performance dates when other university-affiliated groups were not using the theatre, our performances often fell the weekend after Mother’s Day and that meant that our *essential* and *mandatory* first rehearsal in the theatre often fell *on* Mother’s Day. Okay. Fine. We would warn the kids and their parents about this repeatedly from the minute they attended an audition. Still, on that first “tech week” rehearsal, actors would be AWOL. When tracked down on the phone, we would usually hear a rather sheepish, “Uh, I have to celebrate Mother’s Day.” Etc., etc., ad nauseam. In all fairness, I’m not sure that all of the parents even knew there was a rehearsal. I’m sure some of the kids were afraid to ‘fess up that they had some outside obligation on a day as sacred as Mother’s Day.

Does it sound draconian to actually try to *require* high school students to attend a play rehearsal on Mother’s Day? What about sports? Do they cancel their practices on Mother’s Day? I do not know. And then I always wondered what all of those parents thought about me (meeeeee) and all of the uvver muvvers who were there at the rehearsal working behind the scenes of the play. What about our Mother’s Day? I didn’t really care. Those years were so much fun and I knew my urchins loved me even though I was not always the best moom.

I dunno. I think it is wonderful to honor our mothers. But I would never feel comfortable about trying to guilt-trip my kids into coming home or sending a gift or a card or even calling. If my kids are busy on Mother’s Day because they have other important obligations to fulfill, constructive ones like rehearsing a play (for example only) that will enhance their own skills and provide entertainment for others, I think they deserve a pass. We should not be holding them back from their/our futures by making them revere us. Or maybe Mother’s Day could be re-worked. Breakfast, maybe? Or maybe the family could *help* construct the set. Again, only an example.

Back in those theatre days, all of the uvver backstage muvvers and I would have a great time. We always joked about how every day is mothers’ day and we enjoyed spending our time supporting our kids in their endeavors and running a theatre guild with all the mess and missed connections and flakey personnel and trantrums [and occasional vomiting] that the whole business entailed. I actually miss those days sometimes but not too much.

My mother’s day? Well. I had one of the best ever! Neither of my kids came home and I didn’t expect either of them to make that trip. Fly from California for Mother’s Day? No way. Both of them called. I called The Commander. I was given a gorgeous orchid (by the GG) that I’m afraid I will kill. Hmmm, maybe this orchid is destined for Bubs’s greenhouse…. I’ll have to ask her if she wants it. Anyway. I had a great time!! We took a day trip to Magee Marsh, which is in Ohio on Lake Erie. It was beautiful and I loved it and I’ll post about it when I get the pictures processed!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.