It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday. Mind you, it goes without saying that mums should be celebrated and valued everyday of the year.
Mums do so much of the heavy lifting around the house. Our brains are constantly on high alert trying to keep on top of everything. We know where the swimming goggles are and what time the lessons are on.
We notice when the washing powder and toilet paper need replacing – before they run out. We keep track of birthday invitations and all manner of extracurricular events. We are multitasking ninjas.
I’m lucky to have a great role model in my own mum, Mary Kelly.
She is an incredibly kind person. It’s hard to explain the depths of her nurturing instincts, so I’ve been trying to think of a random story that demonstrates it:
Over 20 years ago, my parents bought an apartment in Spain. Turns out, the estate agents who dealt with the sale of the property were absolute cowboys. They were a husband and wife team who actually ended up in prison for fraud, embezzlement and God knows what else.
Mum and dad weren’t their only victims. I’m not sure exactly what they did, but let’s say the owner of the apartment agreed on a sale price and the estate agents whacked on an additional chunk for themselves before informing mum and dad of the asking price.
The apartment is in a really small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Quite soon after the estate agents ended up behind bars, mum bumped into their only daughter. She was mortified to see mum, as she knew from the court proceedings that her parents had targeted her.
Mum spoke kindly to her and the poor girl, who was in her early 20s, told mum that she was the talk of the town and absolutely devastated by her parents’ shady dealings. She said she couldn’t handle all the disdain. She felt so judged and so alone. That’s when mum’s insane ‘mother hen’ instincts kicked in.
She invited the girl to come to Ireland to stay in our house so that she could escape from it all for a while and recharge. She gratefully accepted and so, the daughter of the criminals who targeted my parents booked her flights to Ireland and came to stay in our house for a week.
I was away at uni at the time. Mum rang to ask me if I intended to come home that weekend. No, I was happy enough to stay in Galway. Good, said mammy, because there’s a poor wee Spanish girl sleeping in your bed this week. And so, she told me the story of how she’d taken care of that girl and brought her home.
Supposedly she spent most of her time here in a deep, restful sleep. Mum fed her well and brought her on day trips to the coast to clear her head. At the end of her stay, she thanked mum profusely for offering her an escape from the harsh judgement in that small Spanish town. The break in Ireland had given her the clarity and the strength she needed.
When Mum told me all about it, I was initially caught off guard – it was pretty bonkers, after all.
But then, nothing mum does should surprise me. This is exactly the kind of thing she does that sets her apart from so many others.
As she said herself, what happened was not that young girl’s doing or her fault. She needed help and compassion and mum was there to give it to her. So, how’s that for a random story to demonstrate someone’s maternal kindness? Seriously, that’s next level Irish Mammy, right there!
Happy Mother’s Day to all those who go above and beyond to make the world a little brighter for anyone who needs a mother’s love.
Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra and Dream Beasts. www.dragonterra.ie
Her Parenting column features every Thursday in the Donegal News.
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