A Post-Mother's Day Post

This past Sunday, I learned that dads don't understand Mother's Day. They seem to think that it's about flowers, and chocolate, and pretty cards, and all that material jazz. Little do they know that if they bring contention into their homes in an attempt to create a perfect day for their wives, they've missed the boat.

A few days before Mother's Day, my dad gave me some money and asked me to pick up a little gift for my mom and a nice card for all of us to sign. I tried to pick up the stuff on Friday, but I couldn't find the cards in the store and ended up staring at candy and snacks for almost an hour. Hungry and low....not exactly a good combination. Anyways, Saturday night came by, and my dad caught me in the garage to ask if I'd fulfilled his assignment. I hadn't. I told him that rather than go to the store with the truckload of others who had forgotten cards, I could just make something for everyone to write on. That idea was shot down as preposterous. Why would Mom like some dinky thing that her kids had made for her? I'd ruined everything, apparently. Of course, who should come by to see us arguing than Mom. Do you think it pleased her that Mother's Day was causing contention in our family? Even if the intentions to make her day were good? I think not.

My Sunday school teacher, Connie Ballou, told our class the next day that that morning there had been a fiasco at her house in an attempt to create her perfect day. Someone had let their big yellow lab into the house, and it ended up tracking mud through their kitchen, into their living room, up their stairs, through her room, and up onto her bed. Her husband went downstairs, and yelled at the kids for letting the dog in the house and ruining Mother's Day. Even though a pancake the size of Connie's head was made to help make up for the mud, two of her young girls felt so bad that they went to church in tears. Am I the only one seeing a problem here?

So, there you have it. Dad's don't really get it. It's really not about the stuff or the frills of it all. It's about saying I love you. I'll have to keep that in mind for the future.