Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with DiMe Media and Coca-Cola for Mother’s Day. All opinions are my own.
Wednesdays are my favorite day of the work week. It’s the one day when I get to leave work early enough so that I may get home in time to pick up Norrin. As an autism mom who works outside of the home, I know this is a privilege, and I make the most of every moment. On Wednesdays I greet him at the bus and if he doesn’t have therapy scheduled, we walk to our favorite restaurant. I ask him about his day – sometimes he answers, sometimes he doesn’t. That’s okay. I piece it all together eventually.
Our mother and son only time is limited, but I recognize them as the moments that matter, the ones that make us inseparable and strengthen our bond as the years go on.
On Thursdays, my mom is the one who picks him from the bus. While I know he likes when I pick him up, he loves seeing my mom. Norrin knows what day of the week to expect my mother and he looks forward to it. Their bond is beautiful. And I know this is also a privilege.
I remember one fight my mother and I had during my teen years, I said something like: When I have kids, you’re never going to see them. I said it in anger, to hurt her. My mother – being my mother – told me she wanted it in writing. So I did. I wrote it on the back of a bank account slip.
Many years later and a few months after Norrin was born, I was sitting at my mother’s table, my baby boy on my lap, my mother went into her room and returned with that note. The words I said and wrote to hurt her, suddenly came back to hurt me. That was a tough moment. I’m grateful that she loved me enough to forgive me and and had the ability to see beyond my anger.
I’m lucky that my mother is able to be with Norrin after school and that she has been such a strong presence in his life, especially after his autism diagnosis. She sees Norrin a few times a week and I don’t know what I’d do without her help. She does the things abuelas do: cooks, cleans and spoils him rotten. But my mom also gets down on the floor to play with him and reads to him (something she never did with me when I was a kid). I love to hear the two of them laughing together.
On days when Norrin doesn’t see my mom, he likes speaking with her on the phone. Even if it means, chatting during my mother and son time. Norrin doesn’t say much and he won’t stay on the line for long – just long enough for him to say Hi Grandma, I love you. That’s all she needs to hear.
This Mother’s Day Coca-Cola is celebrating the bond between mothers, daughters and grandchildren through an interactive video in which the viewer can switch the point of view of a mother and daughter throughout the different stages of their relationship.
To celebrate the inseparable bond, Coca-Cola is giving it’s Mother’s Day video viewers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico the opportunity to call their mothers anywhere in the world for three minutes – just long enough to say the words Mami will need to hear the most, I love you and thank you.
The mother and daughter relationship is complex and changes throughout the years, I think that’s why this video is so relatable – it touches on every moment, even the ones that hurt. Coca-Cola recognizes that every moment matters because it’s the shared moments and memories that make the bond inseparable.
Oh those mami/daughter fights! I had plenty of those with my mother. And Gabby is 7, sometimes going on 17. LOL I can only imagine what it will be like when she's a teen! But you're right even though we had those fights with our moms,they loved us enough to forgive us.
I think that's so great what Coca-Cola is doing! Nothing like being able to tell your Mother you love her!
Lisa, so many touching messages. First, I've never known someone with autism, much less a parent of child so I'm always intrigued when you tell your story. And its fascinating to see that he knows he is loved by you and your mother. Lindo.