In South Africa, Mother’s Day is marked on the second Sunday in May each year – a celebration period shared by many countries around the world. Some mark it in February (Norway), some celebrate on the last Sunday of May (Algeria, Mauritius, Morocco and others) and, in Indonesia, it’s celebrated as late as 22 December.
We live in a world of modern families, so the day’s poignance extends beyond ‘Mom’ – it can be dedicated to honouring a caregiver, matriarch, the concepts of motherhood and maternal bonds, or the influence of mothers in society. Anyone who identifies as ‘Mom’ puts in plenty of hard work in multiple roles while generally having to deal with a gendered pay gap, the lion’s share of household operations and more than their share of parental responsibility.
Moms change the world every day, in large and small ways. In the early years of their children’s lives – when they’re the primary caregivers – they’re the models for what a child learns by taking in the world around them, which is crucial for development. Children thrive when they have a secure and positive relationship with people, especially their parents. This is the child’s window of learning which will impact their growing years. As the main presence in a child’s life at this point, she multiple roles in the child’s development, teaching social, physical, cognitive, and emotional development.
Moms literally conjure time out of thin air. Even in a relationship where responsibility and those early-hours wake-ups are shared, Moms have to wake up early and go to work after soothing the children for hours. In a traditional family, they arrive home from work and generally prepare dinner, get the house in order and – at the very least – oversee the bath time routine before they can even get to bed. Finding the balance between personal and professional lives can be tough for a Mom.
Historically, the ‘Mom Network’ at school is tighter-knit than the ‘Dad Group’, meaning that Mom is generally in charge of activities, extra-murals, music lessons and play dates – and that means hosting as much as it does ferrying around.
Moms are also supposed to be the compassionate, caring and giving members of the family. There’s a lot of ‘give’, plenty of ‘take’ and not always an equitable return. If Mom is in charge of the bulk of the chores and provisions, the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet is a great way to support deserving causes with the swipe of a card – at no cost. MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet supporters have Supporters of MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet have raised over R1 billion for more than 8 000 schools and NGO beneficiaries since inception, 25 years ago – many of them stepping in to support families and children in need, in the absence of a maternal figure. From feeding schemes to providing nutritious meals, safe drinking water or classrooms for children to thrive in, MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet works with its partners to be teachers, leaders, guides – and parents – for those in need.
MySchool card holders can contribute to beneficiaries of their choice – at no cost to themselves – every time they swipe their card at a partner store. That partner donates a percentage of the customer’s spend to their chosen beneficiary, improving hundreds of thousands of lives. Sign up for a MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet card online or via the app (Google Play or Apple App Store) to give back with every swipe.
