Mother’s Day is 2 weeks from today and now is the time I usually start preparing myself. This time period also has a lot of trigger days… today is my Mom’s birthday, she would have been 68 today. Next Sunday, May 3rd, would have been my parent’s 34th wedding anniversary. And the week after that is Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day sucks. It just does. I’m just being honest. If you don’t have your mom, it’s just a difficult day. Luckily, I’ve been doing this mother’s day without my mom thing for 5 years now and I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

I was inspired to write this post today because I got an ad in my email box from American Express with the subject line: Special Gift For Mom! Lisa Snyder: Show Your Love with a Gift Card This Mother’s Day…with this picture (which I lovingly doctored up).

justsayno

I kind of wanted to be like, screw you American Express… but what I really want to say is screw you to all the ads I’ve heard, seen and will continue to hear and see. It’s hard not to!

 

Here are a few things I am going to do to help myself with the Mother’s Day, take what you need:

  • set up my email spam filter to take anything that has the keyword of Mother’s Day and tell it to go directly into spam, because that shit *IS* spammy to me (did that just now- I also did that in preparation for Father’s Day in June)
  • delete ads that somehow make it through the spam filter
  • I am not planning on going on facebook on Mother’s Day… the only reasons I would go on is if I wanted to honor and send a hello to someone else that is a mother; a friend or a mother figure and I will allow myself to do that or not do that as a see fit
  • I might book a massage or a soak on this day. I went to my first soak a few months ago with my friend Kali. It’s a popular way to relax here in Portland. Common Grounds is a great place to go if you are in the Portland Oregon area… we also have hot springs… mmm!! maybe I would go do that??
  • I am going to turn the radio down if an ad comes on or opt out of radio and listen to Spotify or Podcasts instead.
  • I am going to mute the TV if I happen to be watching tv and a commercial comes on or look away, walk away, or find my way to the bathroom to take a little break.

 

Here are some posts I’ve written in the past about Mother’s Day you might find helpful:

Mothering Yourself on Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day 2014: What to do with this day when you’ve lost your mom

Mother’s Day Prep 2013 Part 1: Got Guilt?

Mother’s Day Prep 2013 Part 2: Making Space

Mother’s Day 2013: Here come the ads.

Mother’s Day Prep: The 3 Key Ingredients to Getting Through This Week

Missing Your Mom on Mother’s Day: Mothers Day Prep 2012 – Part One

Missing Your Mom on Mother’s Day: Mothers Day Prep 2012 – Part Two

Missing Your Mom on Mother’s Day: Mothers Day Prep 2012 – Part Three

It’s nice that Mother’s Day is coming up. But what happens if you don’t have one anymore?

 

Also, if you want to express yourself, write a guest blog post. I’m going to be posting guest blog posts that have come in along the way folks have written about their moms.

Above all else, hang in there… and write me if you want to. I understand what you are going through.