Mother's Day - One Real Thank-You
| Category: | Holidays |
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| Notes: | For the meeting before Mother's Day (the second Sunday in May in the United States). Written to include Scouts who are being raised by a grandmother, aunt, foster mom, stepmom, or another caregiver, and Scouts whose mother has died. Be aware of the Scouts in your unit for whom this day may be hard. Pairs with fathers-day-the-ones-who-show-up. |
Mother's Day is this Sunday. In the United States it started more than a hundred years ago, when a woman named Anna Jarvis wanted a day to honor her own mother and all the mothers who quietly hold families together.
And if you think about it, they do a lot. The rides to every meeting. The forms signed, the permission slips, the camp fees. The uniform patches sewn on at eleven o'clock at night. The late nights when you were sick. Most of it you never saw, and most of it nobody ever said thank you for.
I know that not everybody in this room has a mom at home. Some of you are being raised by a grandmother, an aunt, a stepmom, a foster mom, or someone else who stepped up. Some of you are missing a mom who isn't here anymore. This day is for all of them. Whoever has been that person for you, this is their day too.
Flowers and cards are nice. But here's a Scout way to say thank you. This week, do a Good Turn at home without being asked. Do the dishes. Fold the laundry. Clean your room before anyone tells you to. Then, on Sunday, look them in the eye and say thank you for one specific thing they did for you. Not "thanks for everything." One real thing.
That might be the best gift they get all year.