Happy Not-a-Mother's Day!

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Being child free, of course I was not served breakfast in bed, nor did I receive flowers or a card. To many parents this should make me sad, because I am missing out on the gratitude of children I don't have. I'll even forgive people for warping the holiday into a day for doting on Mom, despite it's original purpose as a war protest. As ScribbleScribe and I have discussed, all the teary Hallmark commercials in the world wouldn't change our minds about being CF. But one of the biggest myths that haunts CFers is that being child free means you hate children. There are many child free people who don't like kids. I don't deny that. But just because we don't want to have kids doesn't mean we don't love and care for our own younger relatives. My own aunts provided immense support to my parents bringing up myself and my siblings. Which leads me to ask: why is there not an Aunt's Day? Many CF women proudly carry the title aunt, or auntie in my case, since my "nieces and nephews" are actually my cousins kids. We like being the fun aunts who get the chance to spoil the kids from time to time, take them off of mom's hands and handing them back. But there are aunts who do more than help out by babysitting from time to time. In many cultures around the world, aunts are integral parts of raising children. Often they are the first choice for parents in their wills to care for kids in the event of the parents' demise. Being a CF aunt means you can dedicate more time to helping your nieces and nephews. For that matter it's not just aunts that should get their own day. Godmothers, great-aunts, friends who are almost like aunts- we all have some influence and part to play. Foster mothers as well get ignored on the auspicious holiday, despite the fact that they open their homes and their hearts to the toughest cases, who only stay with them a short time before they bounce back through the system. So for all the CFers who help you with your kids, say a little thank you. (Note: I did send my own mother and grandmother flowers for the holiday. I'm not saying we shouldn't thank the good mothers of the world, and mine is a pretty darn good one.)