May 9, 2013

Not Buying Anything For Mom

Life is a perpetual celebration of the Universal Mother
Unsurprisingly, I didn't buy my mom anything for Mother's Day. And after reading some of the obligatory "buy, buy, buy" propaganda for this annual merchandising occasion, I am glad I didn't.

A mainstream media advertisement disguised as news that I read today began by informing readers that "This Mother's Day, moms are getting more love than last year.."

The translation? Spending money on your mom on this one special day = love. Therefore more spending means more love. What bullshit! It amazes me that we fall for this as often as we do.

You can't buy happiness or love for yourself, and you can't buy them for someone else. But that isn't what the big retail organizations are telling us.

According to them acknowledging our moms means "opening our wallets" and "spending more". Taking care of mom means buying her meaningless, excessive gifts on one arbitrary day rather than showing respect and gratitude 365 days a year.

Drooling retailers tell us buying stuff is the way to show we care. They lie, and for their fibbing they will take an estimated $20.7 B haul in the US alone this year.

Refusing to participate in this obvious scam  is a non-consumeristic way to honour all mothers, right up to the Universal Mother inherent in everything.

This Sunday my personal celebration of all the moms I know and love will not contribute one cent towards the mum's day retail industry.

What we can give moms around the world is our love (real love, not money love), our time, our support, and our respect year round. The rest is just expensive lip service that signifies nothing but a way to get into your wallet.

5 comments:

  1. All I want is for someone to do a chore, any chore. Dust something. Vacuum something, throw out something, cook something, fix something, water something, organize something...just so I don't have to do it. I don't want diamonds, just a little help and a hug. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mom worked superhumanly hard to raise 5 kids and support my dad as he progressed through 30 years of his career. One night when I was a teen mom called a family meeting and asked, "If there are 7 able bodied people living together here, why is only one of them doing the cooking and cleaning?"

      We were a bit stunned as we all looked at each other shrugging our shoulders and shuffling uncomfortably in our seats. "Because you are the mom" is the best we could come up with.

      She went on strike. We got the message and things around the house began to change... every day of the year.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous5/10/2013

    I gave my mom money to pay someone to do some yard work since neither one of us are able. I think doing something is always better than giving something, but in my case that's not an option. I never buy stuff or even get cards anymore. Not buying into it, just not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is very thoughtful Miss Marla. Money well spent.

      Delete

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