I have a Wish for Mother’s Day

By Didi Gorman 

Mother’s Day is going to be quite different this year.

Sure, there’ll be the usual display on social media of many Mother’s Day cards, gifts, flowers, and homemade breakfasts, as well as an abundance of selfies with smiling offspring.

Yet, there’s another dimension this year which might not be so overtly on display, so I’ll use this page to write about it since I know it’s on many people’s minds. In one word, it’s uncertainty. The ongoing dystopia we’re enduring since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic taints every aspect of our lives. This includes how this specific mother thinks about Mother’s Day this year.

I, for one, am not so sure I’ve been such an exemplary mother these past few months, ever since this lockdown began; so I’m not entirely convinced I even deserve the wording on that Mother’s Day card which assures me I’m the “bestest mommy ever!”

Really? I don’t feel like the ‘bestest-mommy-ever’ one bit, what with having to shush my children every so often (because I need to work) and not being able to help them with remote learning (because I need to work); on top of which they’re not even allowed to play on the Wii during working hours, given that my desk is right beside the TV room (because I need to work).

And I confess I lose patience more often these days. How can an impatient, easily-irritated mom even come close to ‘bestest mommy ever’?

So I have made a wish for Mother’s Day, and it goes like this: I’ll gladly skip all the cards and flowers, as well as the ‘bestest mommy ever’ title if I could be guaranteed one thing: that my children’s well-being will be intact even after five and a half months off-school; that their mental stability, happiness, and physical health will not be compromised by anything, ever. Promise me that, and I’ll sleep well at night on Mother’s Day.

How precious, how precarious – our children’s well-being. Please tell me I have nothing to fear.

This post is dedicated to all parents out there, but especially –
To all the mothers who worry their children might catch the virus if they go back to school,
To all the mothers who worry for their children’s well-being if they don’t go back to school,
To all the mothers who worry their children will fall behind if they can’t manage remote learning,
To all the mothers who lose sleep having to choose between homeschooling and work,
To all the mothers who choose to homeschool,
To all the mothers who choose not to homeschool,
To all the mothers who don’t know how to homeschool,
To all the mothers who choose to work instead of homeschooling,
To all the mothers who don’t have a choice,
To all the mothers who feel stressed and overwhelmed,
To all the mothers who struggle with guilt and anxiety.

I’m thinking of you.

And I’m wishing you a happy Mother’s Day. You ARE the bestest mommy ever, even if you can’t see it.