As we grow up, life gets in the way.
Your career, your relationships, your goals- slowly takes up more and more of your time and the mental bandwidth you have for the important relationships in your life such as your family and more importantly your mother.
This phenomenon is both understandable and forgivable because we know we are all doing it. Why work on a relationship that we know is always going to be solid and constant when we can otherwise put our attention to some of the new relationships you may be forming in your professional or social life?
However, as young men perhaps we have it backwards. As we constantly strive to create new relationships in our fast-paced world, we can take our family for granted.
Reaching out to your mother shouldn’t just be when you need her to do something for you
Or when you feel too much time has passed,
Or when you call her to see if that chicken in the fridge is still good to eat 10 days later
Or when she gets sick, and you realise you haven’t been anywhere near as present as you should have been.
This video of Amanda Keller linked above (Jonesy & Amanda) depicts her reading an excerpt from Mia Freedman about the harsh and rather unforgiving reality of being a mum… how watching a son grow up into a man is comparable to slowly being broken up with. And how when this happens, it is a sign of a mother doing their job correctly.
As we become men, we are no longer our mother’s little boy, and that’s a good thing. It would be strange and unrealistic for that maternal dependence to remain unchanged. To have a sense of empathy for our mums throughout this evolution from boy to man can be hard though, and it’s videos like this that make us realise what we truly mean to our mothers.
There’s no point rabbiting on any more about what is said in the video, you can watch and listen for yourself – one thing is for sure though, it will remind you to give your mum a call and tell her you love her, or at the very least just ask about her day. It will mean more than you know… because you mean more to her than you know.
Written by: Sam & Tom