Am I the only person in the world who hates Mother’s Day and
its evil twin, Valentine’s Day? I hate them. I hate stupid mandatory holidays.
I love my mother every day, not just Mother’s Day. I get her a Mother’s Day
card because it would hurt her feelings for the day to pass unnoticed and
because I love her and I don’t want her feelings to be hurt, but it’s not my
favorite thing to do.
I already told Primo that he does not have to do anything
ever as long as we are together for Valentine’s Day.[1] Doing
something nice for someone because Hallmark says so? No.
Although of course good chocolate is always welcome. But you
don’t need a day for that.
So I am annoyed when Sly orders Primo to get Doris a
Mother’s Day present – an expensive one.
My mom gets a card! A card! And that’s fine!
Although really, I do not have standing to be annoyed. Primo and I are not married. We do not share money or other resources. His doing for
Doris does not take away from me.
But it’s still annoying.
Primo: My dad told me my mom wants
these garden lights for Mother’s Day.
He leans back from his computer so
I can see the product page.
Me: But those cost $100! And then
there is shipping!
Primo: That’s what she wants.
Me: For Mother’s Day? That is an
awful lot of money to spend on Mother’s Day. In my family, we do cards and
that’s about it. Even if this were a Christmas present, it would be something
my brother, sister, and I would go in together on. We are not in the habit of
spending $100 on gifts.
Primo: Oh, they don’t spend that
on me! I am supposed to spend that on them!
[1] See, “Primo takes the dead rat out of my basement.”
Hate Hallmark holidays! Hate having to find a card that says what i'm thinking, or tells me how to feel. You're totally right. (also agree that $100 is ridiculous - unless you're a Hilton or Bloomberg!)
ReplyDeleteYou are not the only one. I think those holidays are dumb and send just cards. For Mother's Day, I'd rather have one freaking dump in peace and quiet than anything else.
ReplyDelete(You remember those "you want, you'll take, you get" memes? My contribution was:
You want: A whole day to yourself
You'll take: One freaking dump in peace and quiet. Just one.
You get: A toddler)
(As for amount, I am so uncomfortable with how much my family spends at holidays. I've told them outright I can't afford to do the same. Doesn't stop them. I will say, they do not try to make me feel guilty or point out the discrepancy or anything, so the discomfort is all in my head.)
Like, for Christmas, on my side, my two kids have two first cousins (soon to be four when my sister and the new guy make it official) and four (soon to be five - new baby coming!) second cousins, and based on last year's Christmas, I'm expected to spend $50-100+ on each kid. My target is more like $10. (the first cousins get a second gift when we do our own Christmas)
DeleteAnd no, we are not a wealthy family (although my & hubby's last name IS Hilton... No relation!). I don't know how my cousins can afford it.
I have 26 first cousins. I don't know how many second cousins and first cousins once removed. There was and is no gift giving in my family except to immediate family!
Delete