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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Happy Mother’s Day (Open Thread)

Happy Mother’s Day (Open Thread)

by | 75 Comments

This post is in: 

I am not a mom myself, unless you count my pups and kitties, but I salute all moms of all types who are out there.

May you all have as relaxing a day as this.

Happy Mother's Day 1
My sweet Tucker in his early days.

?

Unless you prefer to be gardening or doing something else that’s relaxing in its own way.  Like, you know, taking a trip to Ukraine during a war, to connect with the first lady of Ukraine.

Happy Mother's Day 2

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms and not-moms!

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  1. 1.

    Josie

    I love this picture of two classy ladies. I also love the idea that Dr. Jill is the representative of American women to the world.

  2. 2.

    eclare

    In the video of Dr. Jill meeting the first lady of Ukraine, the first lady’s sneakers are in Ukrainian flag colors.

  7. 7.

    Gravenstone

    Mother’s Day was always interesting for my family because it always fell within the week spanning  my grandmother’s birthday (8th) and mother’s birthday (15th). Miss them both.

  8. 8.

    Kay

    My middle son is coming to help me decide what to do about my basement windows, which really is a great and useful gift. He texted “am I running this or are you running this?” I told him “you, I promise” – he knows me frighteningly well :)

  9. 9.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I miss my mom. Wish she were here. Her Serene Highness Princess Mocha would be pestering her, not me.

  12. 12.

    zhena gogolia

    @Josie: I know. How can his approval ratings be so low? Has everyone forgotten the shame of being an American 2016-20?

  13. 13.

    oldgold

    The Mount Rushmore of First Ladies has a fourth candidate.

    The first three? Dolly, Eleanor and Jackie.

  16. 16.

    JanieM

    Great pics, WaterGirl, the second one made me cry.

    My son took me on a hike last Mother’s Day and we did another yesterday — beautiful May day in the woods, lovely setting for taking pictures, nice conversation. A little hill — just about right for this old lady.

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    Kiddo drove here from school to entertain mom today (entertainments include “please feed me” and “can you do this laundry?”). Perfect day, so there’s that.

    Learned her English roommate thought Titanic was just a movie and not a thing that happened in history. I take back any naughty things I’ve said about American education.

  20. 20.

    Cameron

    My mom’s been gone for quite a while, but it’s easy for me to remember her today.  During the years I hit rock-bottom with alcoholism, she never turned away.

  22. 22.

    trollhattan

    @mrmoshpotato: “Liverpool, is that in Ireland?”

    TBF she’s a lovely person, stayed with us for a few days waiting to get a flight back home during Covid year 1. I tried talking Brexit and Boris with her and she truly had nothing to say on either, just “I’m sure they’re doing their best.”

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato:  That’s how Tucker got his name.  My vet posted (soon to be) Tucker’s photo on his practice website and asked for names.  The photo was of (soon to be) Tucker in the vet’s hands, resting his head on the vet’s arm.

    Someone suggested “Tucker” because he looked “all tuckered out”.

  26. 26.

    oldgold

    @zhena gogolia
    I get that. You are probably correct.

    But, as a damn fossil raised in the 50s, I still recall the cultural tsunami that rolled from sea to shining sea the day Jackie took up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

    And, of course, the bitter/ tragic ending of Camelot along the Potomac marked me.

  28. 28.

    trollhattan

    @oldgold: Jackie followed Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman, Eleanor Roosevelt and was a cultural lightning bolt. The television tour of the refurbished White House, charming de Gaulle in her perfect French while he was fighting with Jack, just being Jackie.

    I can’t think of a bigger contrast to SOP in my lifetime. And that’s before considering her conduct following the slaughter of first, her husband (literally splattered with his brains) and then her brother in law. What may have appeared to be a wisp of a woman proved to have a spine of steel.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    @trollhattan:

    Yes, Jackie shouldn’t be overlooked.

    Women are generally better at sharing the stage with others. I think we can make room on Mt. Rushmore for more than four First Ladies.

  30. 30.

    Tenar Arha

    Hard not to miss my mother today.

    She loved the opera, & probably would have been pleased I got asked to use an extra ticket to the MET Opera broadcast of Turandot yesterday.

    Interestingly, the soprano portraying Turandot was the Ukrainian singer Liudmyla Monastyrska. It’s been five years since she played the role, and I gather from checking articles there was drama because she replaced the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko who wouldn’t/couldn’t condemn Putin. (Didn’t surprise me now after reading Adam’s nightly updates. Feels like we’re back to the era of occasional ballet dancers defecting, trying to balance on the political tightrope, or just enjoying their privileges).

    Anyway, it was a real MET spectacular. Monastyrska was good, though you don’t get her singing throughout. In this opera, it’s the tenor, Yonghoon Lee, who was on stage singing the most.

    The MET either still had Ukrainian flags from the Concert for Ukraine, or added them in her honor, hanging in the theater. During her final bows she came out wrapped in the Ukrainian flag. During the extras in between the interviews etc. the war was mentioned, also the presence in the audience of, I think, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN. Clearly part of a smartly done full court cultural press.

  33. 33.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl: I missed it.  :(

    Chores got the best of me, unfortunately.  Weren’t we supposed to have fully automated houses (apartments) by now?

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    @mrmoshpotato: That bit was a joke, not a quote. Don’t mean to dunk on our friend, who’s truly sweet but quite naive still.

    ETA she’s also had to instruct a Canadian roomie on why the use of “beaner” is frowned upon.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato: I was doing chores is dangerously close to I have to wash my hair.

    Did you forget?  Get caught up on the joys of house cleaning?

    Me?  I wouldn’t have gone because of Covid.  I am still on the very cautious end of that continuum.

  41. 41.

    JR in WV

    The one time we attended an opera at the NY Met, we went for the full monty, of eating before and during the intermissions. The folks seated to our right were Italian, and according to Wife were busy comparing the Met’s opera palace at Lincoln Center to IIRC Milano”s opera theater, their home town. They did applaud the show enthusiastically with Bravo, etc, so I forgive them their insularity.

    We enjoyed it a great deal, while I’m not a huge fan, this was a classic production with classic performers — the champagne didn’t hurt a bit, either. Probably 15 years ago now…

  42. 42.

    planetjanet

    @trollhattan: Wow.  That is good news.  I have had a crazy idea for a while that maybe one day we can mine landfills.  Maybe it won’t be so crazy one day.

  43. 43.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @WaterGirl: Wait, how is Hillary not at the front of this list?  Both as First Lady and Senator, SoS and first woman to get the major party nomination for POTUS, I don’t think any FLOTUS can match all that she’s done.

  44. 44.

    oldgold

    I am fortunate. In the spring time of my dotage, my Mom is still alive and living independently.

    Today I shared this me-me with her and enjoyed hearing her hardy laugh.

    ”Call your Mother today and say something nice. Remember it’s your fault she pees a little bit every time she sneezes.”

  45. 45.

    JoyceH

    What exactly are they doing in that photo? It looks like – some sort of craft project?

  46. 46.

    trollhattan

    @planetjanet:

    Right there with you. “WALL-E” could be more predictive than we give it credit for. Imagine the value of the metals alone.

    Has to be done robotically though, because of all the nasty stuff commingled there.

  47. 47.

    Tenar Arha

    @JR in WV: I’ve never been in person to the MET. I know there’s actual bus day excursions  from Boston…but generally I’m going to NYC to spend hours in museums & galleries. And my cousin seems to prefer last minute tickets to Broadway shows. ?Maybe next time…

  49. 49.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Tenar Arha: Virtual hug from another person whose Mom is no longer around.  Today is a conflicting day for me though.  My Mom who passed away in 2012, was pretty conservative most of her life and I honestly don’t know which side of our political divide she would have ended up on had she lived to see the Trump years (though she surprised me by being legit excited at the prospect of a Woman president when Hillary ran in 2008, despite having hated the Clintons for decades, so there was hope at least).  Also, this Mother’s Day seems really poisoned by the likely prospect of so many Women, Transgender Men and Non-Binary people losing control over their reproductive choices, and the fact that so many “good” mothers went right along with supporting this bullshit.  So it’s extra hard to be particularly positive today.

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    @Tenar Arha: It’s a neat experience (the chandeliers rising!), but I’ve never seen a good performance there. You have to go all the time to catch the great stuff.

  52. 52.

    Ken

    @JoyceH: Yes, looks like they’re going a project with some kids.

    I suppose the First Ladies filling Molotov cocktails, which as I recall was a popular craft project in the early days of the war, might send the wrong signals.

  53. 53.

    Raven

    Well I’m fucking furious! I ordered flowers for my stepmom two goddamn weeks ago, $65 for the flowers and 25 “delivery charge” and the fuckers send me an email last night that they couldn’t “procure a local florist for the delivery”!

  54. 54.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @WaterGirl: I interpreted that as a list of greatest FLOTUS’ (FLOTI?)   which Hillary would be on the short list.  But I may have misread it too.

    PS- getting slow-loading and some error messages here when trying to comment.  Just an fyi.  We might be having internet issues on our end here though (not uncommon).

  55. 55.

    UncleEbeneezer

    A great article for Mother’s Day:

    My mom always had a rule about these things when we were growing up: Never teach your children something you have to unteach them, and never lie. Just explain it in a way they will understand. To this day, she still jokes about a friend of mine in second grade loudly proclaiming that a condom was a tampon. What must her parents have been thinking with that explanation?

    But I remember that abortion talk clearly. We were unpacking the car after a long day and heading up to our room when I asked what abortion meant.

    “An abortion is a procedure that a pregnant person has when they don’t want to be pregnant anymore,” she started. “And it doesn’t hurt the baby because the baby isn’t really a baby yet. And it means if someone wants to be a parent, they can make the decision to do it when they’re ready.”

    I don’t remember exactly how old I was, maybe in middle school. But even at that age, my mom’s explanation made perfect sense. It was simple. Why would anyone be against that? And to be honest, I still don’t understand why people make abortion so complicated—it’s so fundamental, so obviously intrinsic to bodily autonomy and the self-determination of people who can become pregnant.

    My mom continues to teach me so many formative things, so many lessons that instruct how I live my life, and what kind of person I am and hope to become.

    But the two most important things are what it means to be a mom and what it means to be pro-abortion. And she showed me that the two are inextricable—you cannot really be a good parent, you cannot show your children the world through your eyes, if that world does not include reproductive freedom for all.

    My biggest hope in life is that I can one day be the mom she is to me and that I can show my children what it means to feel loved and supported the way she always has and still does. And I hope one day I get the chance to explain to my own children what an abortion is, the way my mom did for me.

    As an adult, I still come back to her explanation to ground myself—to remind me why I do this work. It’s simple and honest.

    And it makes me really grateful my mom chose to have me.”

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack

    @Raven:

    I feel ya. I ordered last year (through Urban Stems) and got the usual “order in process” email updates right up until the final “oops, delivered on Monday” one. This year I said fuck it and specified delivery on Friday, which actually happened. I guess—haven’t talked to Mom yet.

  57. 57.

    Ruckus ??

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    When I can’t connect – which happened a few minutes ago my computer tells me if it’s my computer, the internet or the server on the other end. It said the no connect was other end server. And that can be any number of things that can cause a server error. Too much traffic. A server that decides to take a break. An intermediary connection is busy. An intermediary connection is down and everything has to be rerouted. Etc, etc.

  59. 59.

    lowtechcyclist

    @zhena gogolia: ​
     

    I’d put [Michelle Obama] in place of Jackie.

    Me too, even though the whole Camelot thing was going on when I was in elementary school.

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack

    @Raven:

    Bummer.

    I think I’m going to go back to using the local florist near where my mom lives. It’s a lot more of a hassle—ordering by phone and their grasp of on-line billing is a little shaky—but they end up getting the delivery right (the two times I have used them).

  62. 62.

    zhena gogolia

    @Raven: I love Parker Posey! I’ve been rewatching Christopher Guest movies, and she is so brilliant.

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    @Raven

    Always found the Jackie-inspired wardrobe of Dr. Girlfriend from The Venture Brothers an inspired choice.

    ;)

  69. 69.

    trollhattan

    Meanwhile.

    60 people confirmed killed at school bombed by Russians

    Reuters is reporting that Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed late Sunday what many had feared but were hoping would not be true: 60 people who were sheltering in the Bilohorivka school that Russian forces bombed this weekend were killed in the attack.
    About 90 people had been sheltering in that school at the time of the attack.

    Schools, hospitals, theaters, apartments, Nazis are everywhere at every time, no wonder Vlad can’t focus.

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    Candidate for Michigan governor Ryan D. Kelley says those on the left want to “push this idea of democracy,” but that “in every instance” democracy ends up as communism. This rhetoric is how the right will justify their rule even as the minority voice in this country. pic.twitter.com/dvc2qbXJCJ— Left of Center MI (@leftofcentermi) May 8, 2022

  71. 71.

    eachother

    However it feels today, we’re here.
    Thanks Mom.
    Happy Mother’s Day

    Her name was Ruby.
    Traveling away at the speed of light since 2006.

  74. 74.

    sab

    @Raven: Stepmom Day is next Sunday. I insist on the stepkids making the distinction because stepmom’s deserve respect too.

  75. 75.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl:

    I was doing chores is dangerously close to I have to wash my hair.

    Did you forget?  Get caught up on the joys of house cleaning?

    The place needed a cleaning, and I’m horrible at doing it on a regular basis.  So since I was in the mood, I forced myself to keep at it.

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