Borrowing Inspiration From The UK: How “Fleabag” Gives The Best Gift Idea For Your Arab Mom!
It’s Mother’s Day, with all the old cheesy songs like it’s a holiday season, and the hectic gift shopping to show somewhat of forced love, we need to take a second to think of what really matters for our feelings.
It’s a stretch where this idea came from, but if you are a fan or even familiar with the show “Fleabag”, this might suit your fancy.
The Scene
There was that therapy session scene where the main character “Fleabag,” whose mother had passed away, got the session as a gift from her dad, who is such a dad that he gifts his grieving daughter a therapy session, all in a comedic, sarcastic way of course.
in the scene, there was this self-imposing question that Fleabag doesn’t ask all along until the final episode.
It was less of a “what is happening?”, which is what the show was trying to give with the fast based narrative and unique camera work and directing, but more of a “what do I do?” question, which is what the character literally said in the final scene from the final episode.
“I don’t know what to do, with all my love for her” talking about her dead mother.
The Session
Not to overexplain a joke but the best gift one can get for their mother is therapy, just hear me out on this.
Honestly, the question could’ve been easily answered, if she went to the therapy session earlier in life, point-blank. If not knowing what to do with all the love you have for a person is the issue, maybe learn how to channel it, express it, and feel good about it.
Also, in our own little big Egyptian community, things couldn’t be, if they weren’t just a little bit harder than anywhere else. Granted the show is fiction and real life is … well, real life, but if we take a really good look inside, we will find that the love for our mothers is never-ending, and the problem is not really how to express it but to find it in the first place then find a way to show the love.
But, how can we do that with all the types of moms we have in Egypt? Well, if it’s the typical overbearing, helicopter Egyptian mom -which is the majority of Egyptian mothers- with therapy setting boundaries slowly yet assertively is more doable. If it’s the easy-going cool Egyptian mom that tends to neglect more than engage in her kids’ life, therapy ensures you can get her to be more involved and present. Of course, our moms do the best they can, so no matter what type of mom you have remember that this whole therapy as a gift thing does not make her less responsible for whatever mishaps or trauma but also does not mean we lose ourselves in the anger and do all the blaming without finding a solution.
The Solution
Bottom line is, maybe one therapy session will make us find the love buried deep down inside under years of harmful parenting. Whether it is neglect, or overbearing, too chill and open-minded of a mother, or a controlling helicopter mother, there is definitely love in our hearts for our moms, we just need to fix the damage that they caused first so we can love them right by listening, being attentive, and more present with our moms and understand where they come from.
Mothers are human too, they make mistakes, and it’s easy to hold on to blame and anger towards them, so on this Mother’s day let’s take a step back, sure celebrate and get the presents and all that but also actively try to maintain that same feeling of love towards the greatest woman in each of our lives, not just for a day.
