10 May 2013

Weekend reading

Mother's Day is a day set aside to recognise the role of mothers and the importance mothers play in our lives and in the life of the nation. It's Mother's Day in Australia this Sunday. I am sickened by the advertising I'm seeing for diamond rings, trips and cars. Please don't get caught up in the commercialisation of this day. These kinds of gifts don't honour motherhood, they devalue it. The most genuine celebration is when a family comes together to honour the mother, maybe with a family meal that mum didn't cook. If you want to give something to your mother on Mother's Day, give yourself. That will touch her heart.

Leave the kids alone

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FROM THE COMMENTS HERE DURING THE WEEK

Katie at Simple Foody

Dillpickle Unfinished

Catherine at A time to create
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25 comments

  1. Wishing you a blessed Mother's Day, Rhonda.
    Thanks for your beautiful post, which makes me feel better immediately, since I get sickened too by all the commercial rubbish that hasn't anything to do with life's real depth and treasures.
    'The most important things in life aren't things'...
    Love from Dokkum, The Netherlands.

    Jeanneke.

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  2. Frankly, I can't stand it when 'special' days are set aside for this kind of thing. We should honour our mothers on any day, instead of relegating one day a year for the purpose. It becomes almost a religious duty, increases pressure, expectations and disappointments and, as you rightly say, has become yet another horrible commercialisation.

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  3. My mum totally dislikes mother's day - she always says to us she wants us to be nice to her all year round :-) And my other half and I hate Valentine's for the same reason. Kirsten x

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  4. Well said Rhonda re Mothers Day. Thank you once again for your weekend reading, I do enjoy it and look forward to it each week.

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  5. All special events have become commercial, when my kids were younger I would only allow buying from the school Mother's Day stall...a whole $2

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  6. Last year for Mothers Day I got a scribbled on bit of paper(from my 2yr old), a hand-beaded necklace(4yr old) and a mug that said 'Best Mum in the World'(5 yr old). Best pressies ever!!! Karen

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  7. Rhonda, I owned a gift shop for 18 years, and my policy was to basically ignore all the 'special' holidays. Didn't do much for sales, but I believe we are each responsible for honoring our personal convictions. We never put out anything Christmas until mid-November when we did our thankyou party for our loyal customers, and then it was decorations, not silly frillies no one needs. Our best gift ideas were also practical: food items, lotions, books, linens. Now I'm opening a needlework shop, which I will enjoy so much more!

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  8. I have printed a beautiful black and white pic of each of my 3 boys(they are 5, 3 and 6months,) from when they were just a few days old, all sleeping, and put them in 3 beautiful wooden frames that my husband bought for me a while back.. My husband will wrap them with the boys and give to me for mothers day <3

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  9. I love your comments Rhonda. For me its all about being with family and I love the effort the kids go into their handmade gifts. Happy Mother's day to you Rhonda xo Nicole

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  10. Those ads have always made me laugh, because I wonder who can afford to buy someone a car or a diamond as a gift? I certainly can't, have never been able to and probably never will. I asked my mum if she needed anything and she said she was in need of a new teapot, so that's what I got.

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  11. My teenage daughter is excitedly cooking tea for my mother's day present . I am baking my mother a fresh loaf of bread . Gifts that lift the work load but also tell the person you have put yourself into the gift mean so much more.

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  12. I'm looking so forward to my Mother's day, just spending time with my girls and I know my little one has been very busy making me cards and gifts with her own hands, gifts I will always treasure. Enjoy your special day Rhonda and thank you so much for including me in your weekend reading list, what a wonderful honour. :)

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  13. I've just received my first Mothers day gift in the mail, my eldest son who lives interstate has sent me a gift voucher for books. Have a wonderful Mothers day

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  14. My boys got out of bed early this morning, so we could go to Mothers Day mass at my sons school,neither of them wanted to go, but as I did they got up, ready and were out the door at 7am with no complaints. This is for me a true gift for mothers day. PS I'm a Christian but not Catholic, but enjoy the service just the same. Happy Mothers day to you Rhonda, I'm sure your boys will make it special for you.

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  15. Lots of painting and card making going on at our house, can't wait to see what they've made. Wish I could hug my mum on mothers day but she lives overseas so Skype will have to do.

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  16. Well said Rhonda!! Yes, those things do devalue motherhood. Happy Mother's Day to you and all my other fellow 'Mums' as you would say ;) Thank you for linking to my blog.

    ~Katie
    www.simplefoody.org

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  17. My little ones are far to young to celebrate mother's day except by doing what they do every day--waking up and calling for me to get them out of bed. So I told my husband that I would like my very own bowl of granola with milk and time enough to eat it without interruptions. And then that I should celebrate by snuggling with the kids and being thankful that I am a mother.
    Although the arrival of this latest baby (EDD Sunday) would be great too.

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    Replies
    1. I hope you get your wish and enjoy your granola in bed. Good luck with the delivery of your new baby. How exciting for her/him to be born on mother's day. :- )

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  18. My most treasured gifts from my children are homeamade! I have been told for the past week where not to clean! hmmm....I wonder..... That being said, I did go with my hubby to buy a new cast iron dutch oven when they were 60% off ( I have been watching them for a while now) for making the 5 minute bread! It will be given to me on Mothers Day! The one that I have has legs and it is our camping pot, so it does not work well in my oven. I am looking forward to trying it out! (We also purchased a Fathers day gift already....the cast 2 sided griddle which will be great for camping and BBQ!)

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  19. An even better reason to try out those condensed milk cookies!
    Have a wonderful mother's day Rhonda!

    Vicki
    Trinidad & Tobago

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  20. Hi Rhonda, thank you so much for the link to my blog! It's been quite some time since ie written on it - a few things fell by the wayside after the birth of my second child, but you never know, maybe I'll get back to it when I go on maternity leave in a couple of weeks in readiness for the birth of my third!! I have a few things on my list that I'd like to reintroduce, like bread making, more effective vege gardening, and some serious decluttering. Blogging some of that stuff might be good.

    Have a lovely mothers day :-)

    Anna

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  21. This mother's day my mother is getting an all expense paid ticket to her homeland to visit grandpa who is terminally ill with my daughter so she can meet great grandpa. It set me back a lot but grandma died last year and mom's never really asked for anything before. My grandparents never had any jewelry but has a picture of grandma he wants to put on a locket, so I guess I am among those who bought jewelry. But it will be worth every dime to see the pictures of happy grandpa with his great granddaughter and mom visiting for a while. I only wish I could go but I am here paying the bills so they can have those memories.

    Sandy

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  22. You are so right....the only thing I wish for this Mother's Day is to be able to spend the day with both of my boys. I'll even cook...;-)

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  23. My mom asked for tomatoes and marigolds for her garden. I got that at the community garden plant sale. Then tomorrow we'll have a barbecue at her house.

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  24. My girls grew up knowing that their Mom was not a huge fan of "Hallmark holidays". Flowers that are forced to flower on a particular day never last as long. Last year my daughter e-mailed me and said I was the best Mom ever because all her friends were rushing around ordering overpriced poor quality flowers, and she was sitting down to compose a poem about how much she loved her Mom!

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