ABU DHABI // Years ago, Klaithem al Darmaki spent an entire Ramadan sneaking food from the fridge hours before maghrib.
But she was not fooling her mother who, instead of confronting her daughter, gave her the silent treatment for a day.
Ms al Darmaki, now 24, has not missed a day of fasting since. Not talking to her mother, she said, felt as painful as losing her father when she was a child.
"My mum is the most valuable thing to me, I hardly saw my dad because he passed away when I was little, and I don't have any brothers," she said. "The best thing about a mother, even if you are 40, you will remain a child in your mum's eyes. A mum doesn't say anything except after experience and with your best interest at heart."
Today Klaithem will be heading out to the mall with her siblings and a budget of Dh3,000. Their mission: to purchase "a humble gift to show our appreciation".
Mother's Day is celebrated today in the UAE and several other Gulf countries, including Bahrain and Kuwait. In the Middle East, the day dates back decades and possibly further - perhaps as far as the ancient Egyptians, who dedicated a day in a year to celebrate the mother of Pharaohs, Isis.
It is marked on a number of days and many ways elsewhere. In the US, a national holiday to honour mothers was proclaimed to be the second Sunday of May by Woodrow Wilson, the president at the time, in 1914. The UK celebrates Mothering Sunday during Lent. India adopted the day only in recent years, although there are roots in Hinduism.
Hessa Taliq, a senior manager in research and analysis at Dubai Women's Establishment, believes that marking the day has roots in early history and Islam, and can be considered as part of silat rahim, or close family ties.
The day can also serve as a useful reminder for those who have become distracted by social media and modern technology.
"We are now in a world of Facebook and Twitter, SMS and BBM, it has made us forget important things," she said. "Maybe having one day in the year to remind us is important, of course no one will SMS their mothers on this day, but they will go to them personally. This date should always be on a calendar."
Sarah al Janahi, a 20-year-old from Dubai, said her mother Hind taught her to stick to her traditions and stay true to herself.
"It's nice to show your mum you appreciate her - this should be every day," she said. "But it is nice to have a special day once a year to show appreciation."
Her mother, Mrs al Janahi, believes that in a consumer culture, mothers and children alike should use the day as a reminder of what is important in life and try to remember it all year round.
"Unfortunately now you find teenagers and they don't talk to you because you don't carry a Hermes bag or live in the Palm," she said. "That is very sad, that will carry on to the next generation. If a mother is raising a kid like that, there is no future."
Being from Mauritius, Aneesah Jaumally, a 21-year-old living in Ajman, still has two more months to figure out how to honour her mother.
"In my country Mother's Day is the last Sunday of May, so any time between [May] 28 and 31," she said. "When I was a kid we used to have to draw cards for parents, then dad gets jealous so I do one for my dad, too. The whole family chips in to buy something for the mom, generally whatever she needs in the kitchen."
She added that even with presents, her mother always wished for something that was of benefit for the whole family.
"The things she invariably wants and needs involve the kitchen because she likes to make really good meals for the family," she said.
The words of wisdom her mother passed on, she said, include this gem: "Keep your man well fed at all times, and he will be happy".
osalem@thenational.ae
Mother's Day in UAE celebrated
Today in the UAE, children young and old will show the one who is always there for them, kissing their bumps and bruises better, just how much she is appreciated.
Most popular today
