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MyLine:Column
Mom's absence increases her daughter's respect for her
Date published: 7/8/2008
Want your say? Students in grades eight to 12 are invited to submit guest columns to DO WE, as teenagers, With both Mother's Day and Father's Day having already come to pass for 2008, my questions may not seem at all timely, but my experiences recently have made them so. In my family, it has become tradition that, rather than shower my mother with gifts and homemade meals which serve only to stress her out, we simply send her away around the times of Mother's Day and her birthday. This tradition began many years ago, when my parents had just begun their life together. My father claims he doesn't remember what specifically he did for my mom's birthday that year; but the end result was "suboptimal." Resolving never again to allow his choice in gifts, words or destination to ruin her special day (be it her birthday or Mother's Day), he decided that he would eliminate all possibility of saying the wrong words, giving the wrong gift or choosing the wrong destination. From then on, my mother was to be sent away (generally within the continental U.S.) on her special days. She loves it. Many of my mother's friends don't understand why she enjoys her trips so much--what woman likes to vacation alone? What woman likes to shop alone? What woman likes to be alone? As a general rule, my mother does. But she didn't always go alone--she used to take me with her. No longer does this happen. As I have grown older, I have lost opportunities and gained them. I have exchanged old responsibilities for new ones. Generally, this is a transition teenagers have mixed feelings about, and I am no exception. On the one hand, I long for the mommy-daughter time that was guaranteed twice
Date published: 7/8/2008
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