8Asians is celebrating Mother’s Day all week (Pssst…Don’t forget, it’s May 8th!) by doing what we do best: writing about the women who raised us, nurtured us, taught us, spoiled us, protected us and occasionally for some, drove us up the wall. We love our moms and wanted to share personal stories as a tribute to their hard work.
I don’t know whether or not my mom is like any other Asian mom, but I can tell you this. She doesn’t like how consumerism pushes for people to just chuck money away with every holiday. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, many Asians find gifts of money great partially because they feel a sense of accomplishment when buying and saving from after-holiday sales.
Don’t get me wrong; she loves flowers, cards, and gifts but like any other Asian mother, she always wants us to keep the money at hand in case anything happens. If we really want to send her a gift, she always tells us that instead of the card, to send her a check for what the card was worth. Now that’s Asian!
Growing up, there were never flowers that came in a flower shop and if there was, Dad was really splurging and had gone to Costco. No, we had flowers in pots, and flower beds all in the yard. The idea was that if it doesn’t live past a week, it’s a waste, regardless of how beautiful it was.
“不要浪费钱” (Bùyào làngfèi qián) is a term I and many other ABCs grew up hearing. Literally, it means: “don’t waste money.”
So this mother’s day, I’m doing what a good son does. I’m calling my mom. We’ll probably chat some about how life is going, how her job is going, and how mine is. And Mom will ask me whether or not I sent a card. Respecting the wishes of my elders, of course I had not.
Mom, just so you know because I’m crazy and like to do things in a public sappy fashion, “I love you and Happy Mother’s Day.”
[Photo Courtesy of micki]
