A tribute to parents everywhere

Mother. Mummy. Mom. Mama. Amma. Daddy. Papa. Pops. Appa.

Many ways of calling two people.

The same people who impacted our lives in a magnificent way.

A way no other duo can.

They do not necessarily have to be your biological parents. They just has to be the ones who raised you up.

With Mother’s Day approaching, all restaurants are fully booked, I predict tomorrow will be a chaotic day for any restaurant. Florists will cash in on it, (just like how they do on Valentines) malls will be packed, everyone will be busy focusing on one person – Mummy.

Then I started thinking, why do we need ONE day to celebrate her? I think it is a mockery to Mothers everywhere that after all they’ve done, they only get one day a year to celebrate their efforts.

Shouldn’t everyday be mother’s day?

Forget Mother’s Day, PARENTS are who we should be thanking. (I’m aware of the existence of Parent’s Day by the way)

Shouldn’t we thank them everyday?

I’m not a parent, but I think (based on my observations), that parents go a great deal to make their children happy. And they do it every single day. And for that, a day is unacceptable. They need to be thanked on a daily basis – as their job as parents is an everyday thing. Not a once a year thing.

I’m sure, some of you may just scoff this off and go, “I had horrible parents”. But before you continue that negativity against your parents, please remember that they are also people. They are as human as you and I, which makes them as imperfect as you and I. But that is what makes us all perfect. It is our imperfections which make us indefinable and unique people. We are perfect because of our imperfections. And so are our parents. We must forgive them for the harm/pain that they have inflicted upon us because in their eyes, that is the best that they can do for us. They were parenting us based on the mistakes and lessons they learnt from their parents, and that is how we are probably going to do as well. These days we have self-help books on parenting to help us out. So in a way, we are getting “extra help”. But they did not.

We should appreciate them for all that they have given, taught and done to us. We are who we are, and we have grown into this person, because of them. For those whose parents inflicted emotional pain/ torture, because of what they did you are now a stronger person, they indirectly made you a stronger person and you know better than to do the same to your child in the future, and you should thank them for that lesson in parenting.

Tomorrow, everyone will be celebrating mothers all around the world. I will definitely join in the celebration to thank my mother. But I will also make a mental note that the celebration does not end when the day ends tomorrow. It is an all-year-round celebration! I think we all need to change the way we see things. =)

To parents everywhere – THANK YOU FOR BEING AWESOME!

p/s: this tribute is not applicable for parents who abuse their children. I don’t support child abuse.