Side trip: Making Mom Spabulous on Mother’s Day

May 11, Sunday, will be Mother’s Day.

I haven’t given my mom any gifts for the past 26 Mother’s Days. Well, let’s not count those which occurred while I was still an infant, since I wasn’t aware that there is such a thing back then. Back in my school-age days, I’d often find excuses why I don’t have a gift for her during such occasions: 1) I live on an allowance (P30 a day, circa 1990s, imagine a high schooler getting that amount now, they’d probably cry “Child abuse” hehe), 2)I  get my allowance from my mom ergo, if I get her anything, it’s like her buying a gift for herself, and  3) being kuripot (in English, stingy or a cheapskate), developed early in my system.

I know I’d received a lot of violent reactions regarding the above statements. Forgive me; I was such a bratty kid back then. Anyway, poor mom, she doesn’t deserve all that crap from me.

My mom had me at a relatively early age at 22 years old. She was a fresh graduate then. Looking back, I never imagined myself being a mom at that age. At 22, I was still in UP on my last years in Dentistry lazing my way into early adulthood. I must say, those last years in dental school traumatized us (me and my mom, oh and my dad’s pocket as well) a lot that she made me and my brother swear that no one else in the family (including the future generations) will be allowed to take up dentistry anymore. I managed to graduate (after 6 and a half years) but I have a feeling she was pretty disappointed that her investment didn’t really go well since I am still earning within the minimum wage scale. Oh and my brother? She didn’t get any much luck with him either, as what should be a 3-year course in DLSU became a 5-year project (and counting, egad!) for him. Poor ma!

Oh well, I don’t know what happened during the Mother’s Days that occurred when I was already earning but as far as I can remember, I didn’t give her anything still.

Fast forward to several years, now I am a mother myself. I am slowly beginning to understand and appreciate her more. I realized all the sacrifices that she did for us which I wouldn’t need to do for my child anymore.  My mom didn’t get to practice her profession since she had to take care of us, thus she was eventually trapped in the world of Wordstar. Yes, that typing program before Windows came to the picture. Mom was always complaining that none of us has the patience to teach her the basics of Windows, especially Microsoft Word. I must admit I get easily irritated whenever she calls me to ask how to copy and paste a certain text into another document or ask me what the heck bullets are. I always bellow that I am no MS Words paperclipman (the creature that pops out for you to ask something about MS Word, he could also be Einstein, a dog or a robot but he’d be a paperclipman by default) and I’d get her enrolled into a computer class once I have the money.

Of course I’d feel so guilty after all of those things. Instead of calling STI or AMA (computer schools here in Manila), I plan to sit down with her and devote an entire day teaching her the basics of MS Word. (and introduce her to the paperclipman too!) Now, I’m not being a cheapskate again. I just realized that perhaps she would prefer that I’d be the one to teach her other than a complete stranger.

Oh and to make up for all the past giftless Mother’s Days she endured, I will give her a day at my favourite spa, My Cool Mint Spa in Katipunan Ave.

My husband and I are such spa-holics due to the nature of our jobs which i would consider to have high risks for backaches: me as a dentist and my husband, the Congressman, a lawyer—a job that has high risk to, well, everything! Everytime arrive from the spa, my mom would always hint that she wanted to go to a spa too. Sometimes, she would complain that all she ever wanted in life is to get a massage from anyone. Unfortunately, after stating this, everyone in the house gets selective deafness. It seems that my mom would be okay to the idea to get a massage from me, but that’s one thing I’d rather leave to the experts. I tried massaging the Congressman’s back once, and he complained that it feels like I was trying to pull out his teeth via his nape. It was that horrible.

I know my Mother’s Day gift for her would be at par with all the things she did for me. If I try to give her something she deserves, Donald Trump’s assets would just be a fraction of it. I may not be able to give her expensive and grand things but I hope she gets the picture with my very humble gesture. I’ll love her forever and I hope she’ll be happy always.

P.S.

I’d post a review of My Cool Mint Spa after my mom’s massage. Hope they’d allow me to take pictures!