Happy Sunday:
Rewind 8 years ago to the day, 6:00AM, Jack is 4, thomas is 2, the 3 of us are rummaging through safeway….jimmy dean sausage, eggs, cards, flowers, cinnamon rolls. There are 100 other dads doing the same thing, its pandemonium (I swear). Finally back out in the parking lot, putting the stuff in the car, kids are screaming, I’m about ready to kill them, and an old man pulls up beside me in a late model Cadillac, looks at me and says “Mother’s Day, worst f-ing day of the year, huh”, and drives off…i agreed with him 8 years ago, I disagree with him today.
Sappy this might be but on this day, I don’t care. Mothers take a back seat 364 days a year. Perhaps I say this because I’m a guy, and I only have boys, but i think it’s the truth in general. The job of mother can be a thankless job. In the early years there is no one saying “thanks mom”…”thanks for cleaning my poop all day and night”…”thanks for getting up with me because I only like to sleep 2 hours at a time”, “thanks for feeding me”. As the kids grow up and get older, the duties of mom are expected….if mom doesn’t get it done, its not getting done….and somehow, it always gets done. I get thanked daily, literally everyday….clients, coaching students, team, company, baseball kids I coach…..everyday someone is building me up. From my own experience with Kim and my own Mom, mom’s don’t get thanked that often…they don’t get the pat on the back saying “well done”….they don’t get the “wow-thanks for the advice, this is helpful”….They just show up every day and accept their job as mom. The time, the energy, and the love, a mother puts into her job produces results that are recognized sometimes sooner, but usually much later in life. The fruits of their labor are there but the credit for those fruits many times are missed. Mothers are mothers, with that comes humility, and with that comes no particular desire for attention…..With that said-no matter how humble a person might be, hearing “job well done” and a heartfelt “thank you for everything you’ve done throughout my whole life to get me to where I am today”…..would make any mom feel good.
Make sure you don’t miss the opportunity today to say “thank you”…with a little more effort than the premade words in a card.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms!!