Hi, friend -

Of all the invented holidays that've made Hallmark Cards a $5 billion/year brand, Mother's Day is the absolute worst.

I mean, seriously...

Families are in a no-win situation of having to create The Most Perfect Day... while their matriarch pretends to not care what, if anything, happens on said day.

Except inside? She does care. She just doesn't want to have to tell her people what she really wants on Mother's Day.

And "I shouldn't have to tell you," is only partially responsible for her reticence.

The other reason she keeps her mouth shut is that what she really wants (probably) is for everyone to leave her the f*ck alone for an entire blissful 24 hours.

She can't say that, though, because that's not how gOoD mOtHeRs feel. (At least, that's what social media would have her believe. Her Instagram feed is dripping with sentimentality and spilled maple syrup.)

I know I sound cynical right now, and maybe I am. But that's only because I, and so many other people (not just moms), have been conditioned to believe that it's impolite or improper to just be open and upfront about what we really, actually want.

So while you don't need my permission, Ima give it to you anyway...

Pep Talk #016: Ask for it.
You're allowed to want what you want, and you're allowed to ask for it. And not just on some silly holiday, either.

In fact, if you don't voice your expectations, it's actually not fair to be disappointed or irritated when they're not met.

That's true on Mother's and Father's Day. It's true on birthdays and holidays. It's true for work projects and hoped-for raises and promotions. It's true for client and vendor relationships.

It's true for everything.

Ask for what you want. You just might get it.

Unvoiced expectations are premeditated resentments,
Kelley

P.S. Hallmark didn't start Mother's Day; they just wrecked it. Anna Jarvis kicked off a movement in 1907 to honor moms, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday in 1914, and by the early 1920s, Hallmark (and other card companies) were making bank on it. In 1925, Jarvis got arrested for protesting the commercialization of Mother's Day. Capitalism is so much fun sometimes.