Mother's Day fail via late-stage capitalism

The cutesy emojis and discounted prices only add to my angst.

Damn life is messy.

And damnit how we try to deny that in the lead-up to Mother’s Day, clogging everyone’s inboxes with alliteration, emojis and late-stage capitalism via cutesy subject lines sent by email marketers.

Or see her pain and let her sit with it for awhile.

Here are three I got today:

All Hail The Queen: Celebrate Mom With Sweets, Sparklers, and Special Somethings

Berries, Breakfast Essentials, And More To Go Beyond For Mom

Treat Mom: Exclusive Skincare Specials Just for Her! (this one included a cosmetic surgery deal)

No amount of pampering and plastic surgery will make me forget the trauma and loss alongside the wonder. You may want me to Botox the aftermath of that out of my face, but it will come back some way or another, maybe as unmitigated rage, so I’m leaving my face alone. (Chocolate though? That’s fine, send it over.)

When I think of being a mom, I think of wonderful things, but also the time I sat in my car and banged on the steering wheel, desperate to stop feeling postpartum depression but unable to shake the sadness.

When I think of my mom, I think of wonderful things, but also arguments and grudges and scary late-night phone calls that only meant more bad news.

SO, when I think of Mother’s Day and feel all the complex feelings, I think of this meme instead. It’s been around awhile, and it remains one of my favorite antidotes to all the entreaties that we must “treat mom like a queen…”

Only two more days to go, and then we can move on. Until Father’s Day, of course.