Hippie Mothers Day

Reflections on the Counterculture

Mothers Day is a cultural construct. That’s the counterculture-anthropologist in me, trying to convince myself that the event is irrelevant to who I am as a human. After all, the holiday is cultivated by mainstream culture. Mothers Day is a healthy piece of our economy pie. If we want to honor our moms, do we have to pay to do so? Arguing these points allowed me to cover my feelings with logic, because before becoming a mom, the holiday made me sad, I wanted to be one.

Over the past 23 years of motherhood, my feelings about the holiday have changed. The experience has transformed me. And my back-to-the-land values have served me well: making instead of buying, buying used goods instead of new ones, spending time instead of money.

Hippie Mothers Days are handmade and homemade. Pick a bouquet of wild daisies, cut stems of lilac and roses from the yard. Bake a quiche. Sew a drawstring pouch and put a seashell inside. Build her a birdhouse. Together, plant flower seeds and new veggie starts. Draw a picture. Write a poem. Decorate a frame with a photo of you two. The making takes time. And in that time, we are thinking of her.

I remember making for my mom, as a back-to-the-land daughter, a colorful felt wall hanging inspired by Ringo Starr’s Octopus’s Garden. I can see it today, while I can’t remember a single card I mailed or letter I wrote after leaving home. What we make is an expression of love, being resourceful, and taking time. It becomes something tangible that she keeps to remind her, I am a mom and I am loved.

Love and Peace to mothers and their families, everywhere.