Each year, she receives breakfast in bed, a box of chocolates, and some flowers with a sweet note titled “#1 Mom.”
It’s Mother’s Day, a day of pampering, gifts, and love. It is a whole day devoted to thanking her for all that she has done. After all, she is the one that kept you warm, took care of you when you were sick, and drove you to all of the practices, recitals, and playdates.
However, not every family has the same people in the same roles, and some families don’t have a mother that fits this cookie-cutter description.
Instead, they have other family members or friends that serve as the mother figure for the family.
Many find that this day for celebrating mothers has turned into a day for celebrating mother figures. Therefore, the person that deserves this “thanks” is not necessarily their biological mother, or perhaps, not a mother at all.
In the modern world, families come in all shapes and sizes, with different people filling each role. Because of the wide variety of families today, some find themselves honoring two parents of the same gender, step parents, siblings, or others in the place of their mothers.
New York Times writer Katherine Schulten wrote about the definition of family: “The time has long passed, if it ever really existed, that family meant a ribbon-tied grouping of Mom, Dad, Junior, and Sis, dressed in Sunday Best.”
Over time, new varieties of families that many would consider untraditional have joined these traditional families in raising children and creating their own ways of life. These new types of families have roles and relationships that do not always fit the descriptions of a traditional family.
Because each new type of family has its own unique values, some find that the way they celebrate holidays is something special in its own.
For instance, junior McKenna Jamison has her own way of celebrating Mother’s Day with both her mother and her stepmother. Jamison says, “I always get brunch and spend the day with my mom. However, I also write a card and get flowers for my stepmother so that she knows that I appreciate her too.”
Other families, like that of sophomore Kendall Mantoani, have molded Mother’s Day in their own way to celebrate their untraditional mother figures.
Mantoani said, “Coming from a family with two moms, Mother’s Day is a lot more work. Many of my friends receive help from their fathers to make the day special, but since we have two moms, my sister and I must take on double the work to make sure that they know that we love and appreciate them both.”
Despite the varying traditions of Mother’s Day, many agree that the purpose of the holiday has always been the same.
“Mother’s Day is all about celebrating your mother figure, biological or not. It is to show the person that has put so much work into making sure you grow up right that you appreciate them. It shows how much you love them and how much their hard work has paid off,” said sophomore Josh Camerino.
As unique families become more common in this constantly changing world, many traditional holidays, such as Mother’s Day, are being morphed into something that all families can celebrate, instead of something that only a traditional family can take part in.
The Highlander, April 2016
It’s Mother’s Day, a day of pampering, gifts, and love. It is a whole day devoted to thanking her for all that she has done. After all, she is the one that kept you warm, took care of you when you were sick, and drove you to all of the practices, recitals, and playdates.
However, not every family has the same people in the same roles, and some families don’t have a mother that fits this cookie-cutter description.
Instead, they have other family members or friends that serve as the mother figure for the family.
Many find that this day for celebrating mothers has turned into a day for celebrating mother figures. Therefore, the person that deserves this “thanks” is not necessarily their biological mother, or perhaps, not a mother at all.
In the modern world, families come in all shapes and sizes, with different people filling each role. Because of the wide variety of families today, some find themselves honoring two parents of the same gender, step parents, siblings, or others in the place of their mothers.
New York Times writer Katherine Schulten wrote about the definition of family: “The time has long passed, if it ever really existed, that family meant a ribbon-tied grouping of Mom, Dad, Junior, and Sis, dressed in Sunday Best.”
Over time, new varieties of families that many would consider untraditional have joined these traditional families in raising children and creating their own ways of life. These new types of families have roles and relationships that do not always fit the descriptions of a traditional family.
Because each new type of family has its own unique values, some find that the way they celebrate holidays is something special in its own.
For instance, junior McKenna Jamison has her own way of celebrating Mother’s Day with both her mother and her stepmother. Jamison says, “I always get brunch and spend the day with my mom. However, I also write a card and get flowers for my stepmother so that she knows that I appreciate her too.”
Other families, like that of sophomore Kendall Mantoani, have molded Mother’s Day in their own way to celebrate their untraditional mother figures.
Mantoani said, “Coming from a family with two moms, Mother’s Day is a lot more work. Many of my friends receive help from their fathers to make the day special, but since we have two moms, my sister and I must take on double the work to make sure that they know that we love and appreciate them both.”
Despite the varying traditions of Mother’s Day, many agree that the purpose of the holiday has always been the same.
“Mother’s Day is all about celebrating your mother figure, biological or not. It is to show the person that has put so much work into making sure you grow up right that you appreciate them. It shows how much you love them and how much their hard work has paid off,” said sophomore Josh Camerino.
As unique families become more common in this constantly changing world, many traditional holidays, such as Mother’s Day, are being morphed into something that all families can celebrate, instead of something that only a traditional family can take part in.
The Highlander, April 2016