It's not Mother's Day.

Julia Ward Howe (seen right there next to some words I'm writing) can think what she likes, but, really, it's not.

I'm not being difficult or curmudgeonly or even facetious ... not a bit. It's just plain and simply not Mother's Day.

Mother's Day in Seychelles is on the same date as Mother's Day in England, and that day was in March. It's always in March. The second Sunday in May, other than this year happening to fall on my in-law's fortieth wedding anniversary, is a day like any other -- not Mother's Day.

I recall being shocked by this revelation when I moved to the UK in early 1994. Since I hadn't noticed the local coming and going of the event ... it being in March and all ... I was quite surprised when I went card shopping in early May.

"Sorry, Madam," was what I heard, "but I'm afraid you're a tad late. Mother's Day, you see (sneer) was celebrated six weeks pawst."

Fine. I'll make my own bl--dy card.

Last night we had dinner at Mark's uncle's restaurant at Anse Soleil, which happens to sit right next to my in-law's house, and I brought up the Mother's Day confusion with my MIL. According to her, Mother's Day is, indeed, in March, but today is what she would call "Mothering Sunday" ... something similar, but different.

This "Mothering Sunday" thing is a new one for me, so I asked some questions.

Me: So, what's traditional for this occasion.

My Mother-in-Law: Nothing too much. Usually you just give the mothers in your life a pot plant, or something small like that.

Ah ha!

Okay, I've lived around the British long enough to automatically translate without going too far into the implications in America of a statement like this, but it does conjure an image ... especially considering the fine English tradition of the family all getting together for a "Sunday Joint" on weekends of significance.

(Here we have another of those separated-by-a-common-language things I've discussed before that make international living good for a hoot. A "pot plant" is Brit-speak for houseplant, or potTED plant. The "Sunday joint" is a big hunk of meat -- beef, lamb, pork, whatever --- that is the centerpiece of the family get-together. You can imagine my confusion first time I was invited to Mark's Gran's house in Dorset ... "Just received a lovely pot plant for my seventy-fourth birthday," she said. "You can see it when you come up for the Sunday joint.")

But I digress.

Not Mother's Day. That's what I'm on about today. But possibly Mothering Sunday. I like that. The verbishness of it appeals ... "mother" as an action, not a thing.

I'm all over the keyboard today ... please forgive. Just can't seem to focus, and since it's NOT MOTHER'S DAY, there's nary a pot plant or Sunday joint anywhere to blame for the slight fuzziness I'm experiencing this morning.

Maybe I just need to call my mom. After all, it is Mother's Day where she is.

Happy Mother's Day / Mothering Sunday/ Fortieth Anniversary (whichever fits) to all!

Comments? Questions? Shy? E-mail me ... intladoptionblog@adoptionmail.com