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Treat your mothers well: Our past, present and future
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Growing up in Egypt, I found that many people didn鈥檛 pay too much attention to Mother鈥檚 Day. It鈥檚 an important point to think about here as we head into Mother鈥檚 Day here in China on May 14.
In Egypt, we believed that mothers do not need a special event to celebrate their devotion to their families. Consequently, Mother鈥檚 Day, celebrated on March 21 in Egypt, came and went without fuss.
But schools in Egypt, including the schools that I attended while I was studying there, held contests for the most original mother鈥檚 gifts from students.
I left Egypt at the age of 16, and my destiny took me to Canada. I was amazed to see Canadians emphasizing Mother鈥檚 Day on the second Sunday of May each year. At the beginning, I thought the event was nothing but a commercial occasion to splurge enough on purchases to stimulate the economy. Attempting to empathize with my fellow Canadians, I gradually found myself starting to grasp the importance of celebrating mothers鈥 eternal sacrifices for the well-being of their children. I also acquired a profound appreciation of my own mom.
I began to look forward to Mother鈥檚 Day to express my love for her and my appreciation of her efforts to create a loving family environment for my siblings and me after the sudden death of my father. She died in 2002, leaving a big hole in my heart. To fill that hole, I vowed to use my writing and teaching skills to make sure that my students and readers would seize the opportunity of celebrating Mother鈥檚 Day to display their love and appreciation of their moms.
After arriving and settling in China, I discovered that many of my fellow Chinese hold the same feelings as my Egyptian compatriots toward Mother鈥檚 Day. At first, I was perplexed by their passive attitudes of perceiving Mother鈥檚 Day as any other day of the year, especially after noticing the tremendous efforts that Chinese mothers make to take care of and spoil their kids.
As I began my teaching assignments, I made sure to allocate a class before Mother鈥檚 Day each year to emphasize to my students the importance of taking advantage of Mother鈥檚 Day to express their love for their moms. Some of my students argued that their mothers were already aware of their feelings, so there was no need to allocate a special day.
They emphasized that they dearly loved their moms regardless of the day of the year. Some students said they were uncomfortable with being mushy with their moms. I told them I understand traditional attitudes. I stressed that it takes a lot of courage to be open about one鈥檚 feelings.
To encourage them, I once held a party at a school in Xingtai, Hebei to celebrate Mother鈥檚 Day and invited my students鈥 mothers. I asked each student to stand up and express his/her feelings about their mom. Needless to say, the experience was emotionally fulfilling to my students and their mothers.
Regardless of your circumstances, on May 14, take some time from your busy schedule to celebrate Mother鈥檚 Day and treat your mom royally and spoil her.
Since Mother鈥檚 Day falls on Sunday when there are no classes in most schools, teachers ought to celebrate the event on Friday, May 12th with their students. Organizations with moms who work on May 14 should try to allow them to leave early to celebrate with their children.
Finally, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to wish all the wonderful Chinese mothers a very happy Mother鈥檚 Day. On behalf of my students, I also wish to express my gratitude towards them for their nurturing nature.
The author is a Canadian teacher in China.
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