Mother's Day: It's Complicated
A lot of money and energy is spent on and around Mother's Day to promote the celebration of mothers. When many think about Mother's Day, images of breakfast in bed and presents surrounding a grateful and gracious matriarch come to mind. It's the one day universally recognized as the day moms don't have to cook, clean, or pick up after their children. What a gift. Under the cloyingly sweet surface is a myriad of complex emotions that most of us feel, but don't feel comfortable outwardly expressing. After all, Mother's Day is supposed to be happy, like Christmas. The truth is that Mother's Day is layered. For everyone observing the holiday, it could be that the relationship to their mother is estranged or difficult. Perhaps they are remembering a mother who died many years ago- or just last year. Melancholy can be the overarching emotion on such a day. There are women who want to be mothers, but only have losses or piles of negative pregnancy tests to show f...