For the folks who have been living under a humidified rock for the past couple of days (lucky you, as I sneeze for the fifth consecutive time today), my column this week will serve as a reminder that this Sunday is Mother’s Day in the U.S.

Mother’s Day is a day meant to honor the contributions of mothers, and each family celebrates the day differently, depending on the makeup of each family. If the mom and kids are both young, the kids will attempt to give their mom a breakfast-in-bed which will most likely consist of sugary cereal, reheated waffles, and iced coffee/fruit juice from a carton. The mom will then post on Facebook or Instagram (or Tiktok if she’s with the times) about how adorable her kids are, conveniently leaving out of the frame the mess they made in the kitchen.

But if the mom and kids are older–as in, old enough to pay their own car insurance payments–the family will most likely do brunch at some sit-down restaurant, where the grown-up kids will then exchange thoughtful gifts to their mother, in accordance with their income levels. The mother will feel pleased and grateful, but not surprised: she did, after all, tell her kids exactly what she wanted, in order to avoid the tragedy of receiving yet even more gift cards for stores she doesn’t even shop at, which is what happens in the workplace.

The mom and grown-up kids will then smile and hug each other, sharing wonderfully embarrassing anecdotes of each other in between bites of breakfast burrito and sips of coffee. The scene is lovely and cozy, except for when the mom asks her youngest daughter if she’s seeing anyone, to which the younger daughter rolls her eyes and scoffs at such probing questions asked repeatedly to no end, and motions at the waiter for the check. Typical Mom behavior, the daughter thinks to herself. (Such scenarios may or may not be based on real life. Any resemblance s purely coincidental.)

Anyways, I’d like to wish all moms and mother figures a happy Mother’s Day! Here are some poems I found online to mark the occasion.

Mother’s Day, Bruce Lansky

 On Mother’s Day it isn’t smart To give your mom a broken heart. So here are thing you shouldn’t say To dear old mom on Mother’s Day: Don’t tell her that you’ll never eat A carrot, celery, bean, or beet. Don’t tell her you think smoking’s cool. Don’t tell her you’ve dropped out of school.

Don’t tell her that you’ve drowned the cat.

Don’t tell her that she looks too fat. Dont’t tell her when you’re grown you’ll be A starving poet—just like me.

To My Mother, Robert Louis Stevenson 

You too, my mother, read my rhymes For love of unforgotten times, And you may chance to hear once more The little feet along the floor. 

Andrea Gutierrez is the editor of the Bryan County News.