Ever since I’ve been able to understand a few things about the nature of women, I’ve had real concerns about Mother’s Day. It’s to the point now where I think Mother’s Day is the cruelest day of all. You’ve heard about how many people dread the coming of Christmas.

Because they have no family or friends to celebrate with. You’ve heard how incidents of depression increase during the Christmas season. You’ve seen how many civic organizations, churches, and private businesses put on a big Christmas dinner for people who have no place to go on Christmas.

I think Mother’s Day is the cause of more suffering even than Christmas. Here’s why… At some point in late adolescence or early adulthood, most women begin the process of mate selection. The mate selection process usually ends with marriage.

So let’s assume that the young lady marries, the marriage works, and the couple decides to have children. Now she’s a mother and is in a position to be honored on May 9. Or, let’s assume that the marriage does not work but the couple has three children before they decide their incompatibilities are irreconcilable. They divorce, but she is in a position to be honored on May 9---and rightfully so.

Now, let’s assume that the marriage works, but for some physical or psychological reason the couple cannot have children. Now her suffering starts. There appears to be an inner need in females to procreate, and if this need is unfulfilled for some reason, I have seen many non-mothers suffer horribly for the rest of their lives. I would think this suffering has to increase when the unattainable goal of becoming a mother is flaunted in front of them by the Mother’s Day celebration.

Or, let’s assume that the marriage does not work and the couple divorces before they have children. She’s so fed up with men that she decides never to marry again. She also decides that having children with a man is not worth the trouble. By doing this, she must turn her back on her nature. How must she feel on Mother’s Day when mothers are treated to a gifting binge that is second in size and scope only to Christmas?

Finally, let’s assume that a lady decides never to marry or have children. I don’t think her nurturing spirit goes dormant. I don’t think that her inner desire to procreate goes dormant either. And I don’t think she’s any less of a woman for making this decision. How will she, and others like her, feel on Mother’s Day?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and other credible sources, there are 121 million women age 16 and over in the United States. 80.5 million of them are mothers. How many millions of non-mothers do you think dread the coming of Mother’s Day?

I realize that motherhood is a taxing time for women and their efforts should be celebrated. Along with my wife I’ve gone through the birth process, the diapers, the messes, the disorder, the cooking and cleaning, the years of galloping adolescence, the loss of individual freedoms, and all the fears, problems and joys of raising children.

But I have come to realize that it’s psychologically more difficult for a woman to be a non-mother than it is for her to be a mother. And I think non-mothers should be celebrated too for what they have to endure. I think having a Women’s Day instead of a Mother’s Day would be the thing to do. That way the day would not be so “selective,” and we can put a stop to the suffering that the cruelest day of all, Mother’s Day, must bring to so many women.