A department store came out around Mother's Day with an add that I vehemently disagreed with. In my opinion, it was callus and, while I understood what they meant, I thought it belittled what the day was about. I was very surprised when they came out with a new add for Father's Day along the same lines.
The Mother's Day add stated, "Mother's Day is not for celebrating mothers. It is to celebrate everything mothers do for us." The Father's Day add starts the same way, but the second half of the sentence clarifies differently, "...it is for celebrating everything our fathers are." This phrasing is not quite as offensive, but I do not see the logic in either add. The advertisements point back and specify things or characters, not at the man or woman who did all those things or played those roles.
Yes, I love that Mom kissed my boo boos and Dad played King in the castle. I love everything they've done for me, but that's not all they are. And it's most certainly not all I should be celebrating. They were people long before I came into the world and they are still their own people now. Celebrating Mother's and Father's day isn't just about rejoicing in the things parents do for their children. It is also about trying to understand them as people. To know that they are much more than I could ever know, because I wasn't always there.
To objectify our parents, like the adds, is incredibly easy to do. To look at them as a list of things they've done or should have done. To love and appreciate them for those things, or to despise them for the same reasons is something that's practically ingrained in us. We've known them our whole lives. For a time, they were ALL we knew. During 'Parent' days, I think it is incredibly important for us to step back and appreciate them for everything they do and everything they are, but not the way the commercials state. We need to remember to simply be thankful for them.
The Parent...
The Person.
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
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