This article by Rebecca Eckler, author of Toddlers Gone Wild!, is so offensive in so many ways it's hard to know where to begin. Posted on 05/07/2008 9:54:47 AM PDT by PercivalWalks
This article by Rebecca Eckler, author of Toddlers Gone Wild!, is so offensive in so many ways it's hard to know where to begin.
Here's one. Rebecca writes:
"On behalf of my four-year-old, who has a Yahoo account in her name, I recently sent an e-mail to her father, who lives in Alberta.
"'Hi Daddy,' I typed, as my daughter was fast asleep. 'Mommy has been talking about Mother's Day. I only have 143 pennies in my piggy bank. She's the best mommy ever. She's been pretty exhausted. I'd like to get her something nice. Can you help? Love you.'
"It was a slightly pathetic, but possibly cute, way of reminding my daughter's father about Mother's Day.
"On what is perhaps the Hallmark holiday of all Hallmark holidays, what's a single mother to do to get some sort of recognition? It's certainly not going to come from a child who still licks glue and is too young to understand the concept.
"But modern single mothers, whether they've chosen to be single, still get along with the father of their children, or have no contact with the father at all, are finding new ways to make Mother's Day special (and, in some cases, more fruitful)...
"As for me, the e-mail worked. I'll be at a spa, thanks to my four-year-old's request via her mother's e-mail."
I love that--mom is so entitled to even more of dad's money that she brags in the national media about using her four-year-old's identity to deceive her ex. She feels the need to "remind my daughter's father about Mother's Day," as if it's his problem.
Here's another:
"All mothers of young children rely on gifts made by someone else. For the single mom, feeling the need for something more than a crumpled card in a knapsack - something that comes with a gift receipt - presents a particular dilemma. You can't very well hand over $20 to your three year-old to do your shopping.
"So some have learned to lobby on their own behalf.
"'I've drilled it into him,' says Toronto-based Vanessa Craft, the author of Out of Character, about her three-year-old daughter's father, who lives in England.
"Growing up, Mother's Day, like most holidays, had always been recognized in my house. So it's a big deal. I even remind my daughter's father that on her birthday I should also get something, for the fact that I gave birth,' Ms. Craft says.
"'Her dad knows to make me cards, at the very least, on behalf of our daughter,' says Ms. Craft, adding, 'I've never had a bad Mother's Day being a single mom.'"
Huh? Her ex owes her a Mother's Day gift?
One other note--in both cases (Rebecca Eckler and Vanessa Craft) the children are very young and the fathers live far away. Rebecca dumped the father of her child, to whom she was engaged to be married, for another man. I don't know what happened in Vanessa's case, but statistically the odds are good that she was the one who initiated the divorce/breakup. In both cases it was probably the women who moved away. So having already severed most of the loving bonds between the fathers and their little children, the women now feel deprived and entitled to even more from dad.
Here's a third section:
"Stacey Otis, a single mother of three, says that without a partner there is 'such a greater connection with your children,' and that Mother's Day is always 'awesome.'
"She celebrates the day at her house, or at one of her siblings' houses, and has turned it into 'Family Mother's Day.'
"Unlike many of my mother friends, who moan about husbands forgetting Mother's Day entirely, or who complain about partners not even giving them two hours of alone time, Ms. Otis says, 'My Mother's Days are always special. When my kids get excited to give me what they made at school, it's like gold. When you know all you have is each other, it makes the day really special.'"
So Stacey Otis' kids are better off because they don't have a dad? That's odd, since being without a dad greatly increases their chances for most youth pathologies, including drugs, crime, teen pregnancy, and dropouts.
And of course Stacey is better off, because all of her friends' husbands are louts who spend much of the their time working to support their wives and children. And Stacey's excessively critical female attitude probably gives you a good clue as to why her and Rebecca's and Vanessa's relationships ended, too.
The full article is--get this--Get what you want this Mother's Day. Twist the ex's arm (Globe and Mail, 5/6/08). To write a Letter to the Editor of the Globe and Mail about this piece, click on Letters@globeandmail.com.
Glenn Sacks, www.GlennSacks.com
[Note: If you or someone you love is faced with a divorce or needs help with child custody, child support, false accusations, Parental Alienation, or other family law or criminal law matters, ask Glenn for help by clicking here.]
Not to excuse the mother in this but how could the father not know that this was not typed by a four year old? What four year old uses the word "exhausted" and can spell it?
He wasn’t fooled. Four year olds can’t count to 143, and theyrarely use terms like exhausted. It reminds me of Lucy Van Pelt trying to get Schroeder to give her a present for Beethoven’s Birthday.
What a bunch of selfish be-yotches! “Honey, I know you’re only four but Mummy thinks your clay hand print plaque is lame. Go hit Daddy up for $700 so I can get me some Christian Louboutins!”
And the men are stupid enough to give them the money! Hell, they were stupid enough to lie with these harpies in the first place.
Gosh, who wouldn’t dump these women? The one who expects her child’s father to send HER a present on the child’s birthday is a real piece of work.
I don’t need a thing for Mother’s Day, but I’d better remind my husband to get cards in the mail for his mother and step-mother.
Sorry to bother the Mom list with this, but I am absolutely appalled and thought I would pass it along.
Good thing she remembered to capitalize “Mother’s Day” and the apostrophe was a nice touch too.
It’s protection money. If the gifts stop coming, these women will make those mens’ lives a living hell in court. They’re running a protection racket on their husbands. Tony Soprano would be proud.
}:-)4
They have been divorced for 3 years and she still expects my friend to act like her husband in every way except she can go party whenever she wants.
I think she is insane.
Sounds insane to me. But then, expecting a present on your child’s birthday seems insane, even if you’re married to the child’s father.
I really don’t get the obsession with gifts. If I want something beyond the basics - groceries, gas, Wal-mart clothes - I ask my husband, “Can I get myself Item X?” and he says either, “Sure!” or “Wait until payday.”
It’s important for kids to learn to give, and to honor their parents even if their parents don’t deserve it.
That said, my ex lives with her parents and they can give their grandkids money for my ex.
This type of attitude shows how selfish people are. I thought homemade cards made lovingly by your child were great gifts. As a dad I would rather get that from my kids than something bought at the store.
I agree. It's creepy. If one is going to observe Mother's Day, the point is that it's a recognition to a mother from her children. If your child is 3, that means you get a page he colored and a flower he picked out of the neighbor's landscaping, and you tell him that it's wonderful and he's wonderful.
I thought all mothers knew this stuff.
I have a bit of throw-up in my mouth.
Your husband sounds like mine!!!!
I remember my first Mother’s day. I hadn’t even given it a thought at the time because back then May was a really hectic time for me with work (and the baby). Wednesday before Mother’s Day, a particularly hellacious day, he asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day and I flippantly said “no responsibility, no phone, no cooking, nothing.”
Mothr’s Day came, he packed a picnic basket, our fishing gear, a cooler, the chairs and we spent the day on the beach surf fishing and he had bought me a new book just for the occassion!
This will be the first Mother’s Day weekend we won’t have our fishing picnic. Since both of our mother’s are passed away, we’re filling in at the Moose Lodge so the other gals who usually work weekends that are mothers and still have moms can be with them.
That’s very sweet. I’ve never heard of this custom, but if it’s your family’s observance, then great.
My husband recently went through a stack of homemade Father’s Day cards and birthday artwork given to him by our sons. Those provide lasting memories of the love we have in our home...he had tears in his eyes.
So did I. It’s like dads always getting a screwdriver set for Christmas.
A picnic would be fun! My mother’s birthday is May 4, so my family always celebrated her birthday, and she didn’t care about Mother’s Day, although we made things in school most of the time.
It’s nice of you to work the Moose Lodge for people whose mothers are living. My brother would always volunteer to work holidays when he was in the Air Force so troops who had families could be with them.
That always struck me as bizarre. To celebrate Mothers Day she wants to be away from her children. Sounds like my ex.
I once asked my Dad what he did for mom for mothers day. He said, “nothing, she ain’t my mother.”
Or use caps and punctuation.
The idiot dad deserves to have his money yanked.
My favorite Mother's day gift was from my ex husband. He decided I needed a mop & wringer thing, like you see in schools. I was in shock for days. No dinner & the kids were little so I was mad. On Father's day, he didn't get the dinner & fishing stuff he wanted. He got a Big Stinky Fly Trap & a pooper scooper.
LOL! My brother and I did that. I think Mom must have sold all the extra tools at garage sales while Dad was at sea.
Now a mop is weird.
I cherish the things that Jax has made for me for Mother’s Day, even before she started school my husband would help her make something for me.
When I get to the Lodge tonight I’m going to talk to the PTB to clear it with them that I may be a few minutes late opening on Sunday. There’s a special service at Church and all the kids will be reading prayers and a few sentences they’ve written about their moms. Service is at 10:30 and I’m supposed to open up at noon.
I’ve cleared it with 1 of them already — my husband, and I don’t expect any problems with the other 2
It was & I said ex husband lol. However we ended up best friends & that is great for the children we have together. I get great presents from him now for holidays, gift cards! Strange...he didn’t act that nice when we were together. Shaking my head.
This doesn’t surprise me in the least. I’ve seen so many single mothers who do these things to continuely justify their poor life decisions. They act out their selfish misery on any man who crosses path with them and the fathers of their children. Their selfishness, entitlement syndrome, and self-victimization is unmeasurable.
Even worse, they try to pass their manhate onto their children by constantly badmouthing the fathers in front of their children and all men in general. And don’t get me started on how they will blackmail the fathers with the time they can spend with their children in exchange for money.
Nah, that would make them look bad :-). I'm sure your church service will be adorable. And this reminds me I should be working on our music for Sunday! Maybe there's an easy Spanish song for Mother's Day in one of my books.
I've heard others, of both sexes, say that. It's a mystery to me!
While I don’t approve of the mother pretending to be her daughter, it sounds to me like someone, namely the author, needs to buy a gift for himself...some thicker skin.
Lot of judging and assumptions here -
but, at least there are some who get that, obviously, the father was neither fooled nor the mother trying to fool him - it was just a way to remind him that she is still the mother of HIS child.
He wasn't forced to do a thing. He did it voluntarily -
Bottom line: none of us here in cyber land know the circumstances that resulted in them not being together - so to auto-fault her is sefl-righteous, at best.
I say, good on her - she wasn't blackmailing him nor even 'tricking' him - it was a unique way to remind him that they share a daughter - and he was free to reciprocate or not.
Well, he’s right!!!!
KUDOS!
I think this is a great tradition more should adopt. It teaches kids, for one thing, that birthdays aren't all just about GETTING - but appreciation for the mother that chose to give them life and who loves and cares for them -
So - pooh on you naysayer judgmental elitists
Um, no he doesn't.
PRICELESS!!!!
LOL!!! You're right because one of them is one of the gals I'm covering for!!!! Good luck with the music hunt!
In this case, yes he does. If he believed his 4 year old typed that email, he is an idiot.
What a pathetic excuse for a mother! And stupid, what four year old could have written that? LOL
I bet she made it all up.
I went to school with the daughter of a divorced woman, who had only daughters. It the biggest fest of lipstick man-hating I’ve ever seen, and that counts four years in Cambridge, MA with all those feminist colleges nearby.
NOTICE: The following does not paint all women as harpies, but addresses those who are.
Important tip for men: there are many good women...too many to screw around with these foolettes. But if you’re going to be messing around with one of them or you aren’t yet sure she’s a good one (in which case I would highly advise keeping ‘em zipped up), redundantly use some redundancy. And never let her handle the prophylactic - I have heard more than one story of these types getting themselves knocked up by manipulating birth control, to simultaneously give them the baby they’ve always wanted and stick it to the Y chromosomes.
Maybe it was locker room talk or apocryphal, but a life of child support on the line, a little care goes a long way.
Yes, it was one of the better get backs I ever did ! My daughter gave the big stinky fly trap & my son the pooper scooper. He didn’t like it one bit. And I never used his stupid mop & wringer. I sold it at a yard sale. Was I ever mad!
Well in my case it was far better to be friends, we owned & own too much together. Plus now we like each other & can laugh about the dumb stuff we did.
Thanks. I like Oct as I have 3 born in that month & sometimes they will just get me flowers that last all month. Brightens up the house.
“Thanks. I like Oct as I have 3 born in that month & sometimes they will just get me flowers that last all month. Brightens up the house.”
Sounds like Jan/Feb were pretty good months too in that case...;)
Oh wow , I guess they were. I never even realized that. Thanks for that!
That’s weird why do you have to ask?
Haha so true!
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