Mother's Day
What does it mean to you?
VOL. 4 ... No. 148. May 6, 2026
Howdy Humpsters!
Last Sunday was Mother’s Day here in Portugal, and next Sunday will be Mother’s Day in the U.S. According to Richmond American University in London, “In Indonesia, Mother’s Day celebrations take place on 22 December and all women are celebrated, not just mums.”
According to the Indonesian government website, berita jakarta
The commemoration traces back to the 1928 Indonesian Women’s Congress, which ignited a national spirit for gender equality. It remains a symbol of women’s empowerment and their vital role in shaping Indonesia’s future in partnership with men.
This year’s commemoration [2025] is held under the theme “Empowered Women, Contributing Towards Golden Indonesia 2045”.
. . . Despite facing various challenges, including the dual burden, stigma, limited access, and gender-based violence, women have never stopped fighting . . . women are not merely beneficiaries of development but the primary engines of change.
Yay Women of Indonesia!
Mother and child. Are they blissed out or exhausted?
This day is fraught with emotional landmines for many people.
Depending on your situation and life experience, you may be feeling unsettled today. If you were lucky, your mother was intelligent, loving, and financially stable. She provided the framework so you could have a carefree childhood. You miss her terribly if she’s gone or in the process of leaving, and you strive to model your own behavior after what she taught you.
But mothers show up in all kinds of ways. Maybe your mother was a religious-fanatic-monster, as messed up as the mother in the horror movie Carrie. Maybe your mother’s indifference and narcissism made you feel worthless. One of my friends said her mother never liked her. In hearing what she experienced, I believe she is right about that. Maybe your mother couldn’t stand the struggle or boredom of being a parent and abandoned you to the care of an institution or relatives. Maybe she loved you deeply, but was mentally or physically debilitated and unable to care for you properly.
In other words, no matter how they show up in the world, our mothers are HUMAN, with flaws, and not June Cleaver from Leave It To Beaver, dusting the condiments jars in her pearls and high heels.
Here’s June explaining to the Beaver that girls are not dumb.
June Cleaver was the idealized mother of the 1950s, as cultured as her pearls and white bread personified. When the actress who played her, Barbara Billingsley, showed up years later as the “Jive” translator in the hilarious, satirical movie, Airplane, it was a masterpiece of comedy casting.
Here are Norman Alexander Gibbs, and Al White as the jive-talking dudes. They both wrote the dialogue and taught Barbara Billingsley how to properly speak it.
Most women “mother” someone.
Even if we never give birth or adopt, most women “mother” another person or many people during their lifetimes — a friend, a lover, students in their classrooms, a sibling.
I was surrogate mother to my younger sister. At five years her elder, I was about as qualified to mother her as I was to practice brain surgery, but like many kids in difficult situations, I stepped up. I did my best to offer her comfort and guidance from my perspective of having just gone through what she was experiencing — teachers, boys, math, sports, homework, her changing body, menstrual periods — I advised her on things I was still figuring out for myself.
When I lost her a few years back, it felt a little like losing my child and my sister. Looking back, I am proud of both of us. We did the best we could.
What does Mother’s Day mean to you?
How do you feel about Mother’s Day. What does it stir up in you? Is it a day contrived simply to make us spend money? What memories would you like to share? Does sharing the memories make the day more fun or more difficult?
If you feel inclined, please share your thoughts about motherhood — whether it’s your experience as a child, or as a mother, or the joys or struggles of being child-free. I’d loved to hear from you.
Much love and gratitude for all the ways you enrich my life.
Até logo,
Janna
When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you. — Nora Ephron
Now that I'm a mother, Mother's Day is a time when I look inward, look at the moments when I so ignorantly made mistakes, perhaps unlike the ones my mother made, but different ones. I know that much of what I gave to my children was good but yes, I made some whoopers. A friend of mine once said, "Life has two stages: childhood and recovery".
Love your writing. I am one that had the Mom from Mommie Dearest. Mother’s Day in my 60’s still makes me think of my Mommie Dearest and brings great pain & disappointment. The good news is I’m quick to focus on the children I’ve mothered & how grateful I am to have that awesome responsibility. I birthed 3 but had the blessing of raising 11. All young adults now and all mothers themselves. Some fostered, some adopted but all my children! It’s a big celebration at my house every year and I’m looking forward to it!