
Tell HN: Call your mom - DanielBMarkham
Programming, gaming, startups, and other nerd activities can get pretty involved, so it&#x27;s good from time to set aside time for your parents.<p>Today is Mother&#x27;s Day in the U.S.<p>Get out of the zone for a bit. Call your mom.
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einaros
Mother's day or not, those who can make that call, should. My mother passed
away one week ago. I really, _really_ wish I could call her today.

~~~
mst
Be aware: You don't properly mourn the death of the first parent to die until
the other one does as well.

My father died less than a year after my mother did, and it was far worse even
though I was arguably closer to her.

I know this is not a particularly good time to be warning you about this but I
wish somebody'd warned me and I probably won't get another reminder to do so.
So, um, sorry, but I hope I'm right that it was worth saying.

~~~
kartman
I lost my mom when I was younger. I have started realizing the point you are
making more as time has passed and try a bit harder to keep things happy for
my dad. It was good to hear your advice.

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robinh
I suppose it's an OK sentiment, but I'm not in contact with my parents and on
days like these I keep getting reminded of that fact. I was secretly hoping
there wouldn't be anything about it on HN, but I guess I'll just have to learn
to deal with it.

<goes back to reading a book in pyjamas, today is not a very good day. />

~~~
xarien
I suppose it's an OK sentiment, but I don't know how to program and on days
like these I keep getting reminded of the fact. I was secretly hoping there
wouldn't be anything about it on HN, but I guess I'll just have to learn to
deal with it.

Nothing is easy. Take the first step to remedy the situation before you regret
it.

~~~
azth
Woah, what's with all the downvotes here?

~~~
mscarborough
It was a 'clever' snarky post equating 'not seeing programming' on HN vs 'not
seeing "call your mother"' on HN, which we can reasonably expect to not see.

In the rush to be clever, we got a really snarky post from someone who has no
knowledge of the parent comment's context.

Not everyone has a great relationship with their parents, that doesn't make it
the child's fault like super-counselor above likes to think.

------
flavaflav
Called Mum.

Asked her about her holiday. Asked her how she was. Talked about family drama
[they love that shit].

I told her about my last meeting with a key gatekeeper for our tech start-up
[CTO in one of the top 200 companies in Australia]. She told me how her new
friend, Susan, is a computer "wiz" that helped her reset her router last week,
and that I should present my idea to Susan for feedback. Note: Susan is a
customer support officer my mother was connected to when she called the
Netgear customer support hotline last week.

We confirmed I would pick her up from the airport on Tuesday. Said our
farewells, and hung-up the phone.

That wasn't so hard at all.

~~~
atmosx
Hahaha awesome :-) I wonder if Knuth was getting the same kind of treatment
from his mother ("You know there's is this friend of mine who wrote a program
on her computer to keep their grocery store expenses! You should talk to
them!"). It's amazing that even at this age she's trying to give an advice :-)

~~~
ihaveajob
It reminds me of this classmate of mine in college. His mom would overhear
conversations when we were working on some programming assignment and every
now and then she'd stop by to comment things like "make sure to check the
pointers!" Funny lady.

------
lucaspiller
Yesterday (and the previous day) I spent my time travelling 13,000km to
surprise my mum. It's not Mother's Day here, but who needs an excuse?

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computerjunkie
Rather than calling your mother on a specific day of the year, make it a habit
to call your mom. Be it daily, weekly or monthly, keep in touch with your
mother.(that includes your father)

Better yet, visit them, spend time with them regularly. Mothers have done so
much to get you to where you are now. They deserve more than a simple phone
call.

~~~
exodust
Ok, Norman Bates, thanks for the advice.

------
runarb
And for all of us that don't celebrate mother's day today[0], you can still
call :)

1:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day#Dates_around_the_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day#Dates_around_the_world)
( learn somthig new today. Mother's Day is celebrated on different days in
different region of the worlds ).

~~~
pierlux
TIL there is more than 1 world ;)

------
vezzy-fnord
Conversely, if you have a poor relationship with your mother due to factors
outside of your control (she is a narcissist, abusive, etc.), then do not feel
pressured to pursue contact with her. She may be your mother, but a blood
relation does not mean you should subject yourself to more agony, all because
of the cult of personality we have created around the mother as some sacred
idol.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
There is not a cult of personality around mothers, though I can see how it
would feel that way if one had an abusive or neglectful mother. I was in that
category, so I _get_ it. However, I also have an amazing wife and kids of my
own, and the beauty that can contained in the mother/child relationship is
profound.

Honestly, since I absolutely do not have that kind of relationship, nor will I
ever, sometimes it's hard to watch. It can rip open certain scars that never
really healed well.

------
rasur
That's fine, but it presupposes that one actually likes ones Mother (or even
"Parents").

~~~
dsirijus
You don't have to _like_ to _respect_.

~~~
mratzloff
And you don't have to be familiar with a situation at all to give advice on
the Internet!

------
dsirijus
I approve!

Five Mother's Days ago, I paid for beverage of their choosing to all local bar
patrons who phoned or even just sent SMS to their respective mothers that
night.

Horrible conversion rate! <20%. People are just silly sometimes.

~~~
rtpg
Did you try A/B testing your messaging?

~~~
dsirijus
I tried first plain views (shouted it out really, to anyone), then per install
(went from table to table).

But no A/B testing, it wasn't a buzzword back then really.

------
sidcool
I live with my mom. I am from India and joint family is not a taboo here as it
is in the US. I have never understood why it should be considered a taboo. But
that's a difference in cultures. Anyways, I don't just call my mom, I buy her
a gift and the entire family goes out for dinner :)

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zemvpferreira
I live with my mom, ok? It's a very efficient arrangement. Beep boop.

------
jhess2991
I had no idea it was mothers day, thanks for reminding me. Haven't called my
mom in 4 months, but will give here a call today.

~~~
batuhanicoz
Wow. I don't want to say something wrong to you but I can't imagine not seeing
my mother for 4 months, let alone not hearing from her.

I do live within a 3 hours drive (or 30 minute flight with a helitaxi) from my
family though. So it's very easy for me to go see them.

------
pskittle
Wished my mom,long before i saw this on HN. She was really happy and i could
see it in her eyes. However she complained that my brother sent her a text.
(he isn't away from home)

To all you people, albeit we shouldn't need a day to celebrate her awesomeness
but it doesn't hurt to do that esp today.

------
pearjuice
There is a reason I flagged this thread.

This is not your personal Facebook-feed to farm karma by surfing on some
novelty holiday solely invented to make you spend money on presents and feed
the capitalist-machine.

~~~
icebraining
On that note, interesting tidbit from Wikipedia:

    
    
      The modern American holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908,
      when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia.
      Her campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States
      began in 1905, the year her beloved mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Anna’s
      mission was to honor her own mother by continuing work she had started and
      to set aside a day to honor mothers, "the person who has done more for you
      than anyone in the world." Anna's mother, Ann Jarvis, was a peace activist
      who had cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and
      created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. (...)
    
      Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mother's Day she soon became
      resentful of the commercialization and angry that companies would profit
      from the holiday. By the early 1920's, Hallmark and other companies had
      started selling Mother's Day cards. Jarvis became so embittered by 
      what she saw as misinterpretation and exploitation that she protested and
      even tried to rescind Mother's Day. (...) Jarvis organized boycotts and
      threatened lawsuits to try to stop the commercialization. She crashed a
      candymakers convention in Philadelphia in 1923. Two years later she
      protested at a confab of the American War Mothers, which raised money
      by selling carnations, the flower associated with Mother’s Day, and was
      arrested for disturbing the peace.
    

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day)

~~~
gphilip
Somewhat related, and somewhat more surprising:
[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/434/is-it-true-
than...](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/434/is-it-true-thanksgiving-
was-invented-by-the-editor-of-em-harpers-bazaar-em)

------
carlosgg
Happy Mother's Day to moms that read Hacker News! Happy Mother's Day to moms
that don't read Hacker News! :-)

------
gphilip
Perhaps relevant: [http://seeyourfolks.com/](http://seeyourfolks.com/)

------
reactor
Why need a Mother's day for anyone to call their mom?

~~~
betterunix
The history of mother's day is rather informative:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_%28United_State...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_%28United_States%29)

------
danmozgai
Today I will visit Mom, attempt to remove the viruses installed on her PCs,
and remove as much metro-ness from her Windows 8 PC as possible.

------
rpwverheij
Wish this would have been here early in the morning for the dutch timezone!
Now my sister reminded me while standing besides my mom and I told her: ahh!
hehe, errr, yes pass the phone then! >.< It takes a bit of effort to remember
these kind of things, but I'm starting to appriciate (and actually try to
remember) them more and more.

------
Datsundere
Mother's day or not, you should be thankful for mothers every day. Call them
anyday, not just mother's day.

------
anotherhacker
How about calling every day - not just Mothers's Day....

~~~
exodust
Oh sure... that'll work well, great idea.

------
morganf
Think up, and think down, the tree: you thank your parents for being awesome
by, being awesome parents to your own children. (Think of the last line of
Shakespeare's Sonnet 13: "You had a father; let your son say so.")

I interviewed my parents, grandparents, and relatives to write a family
history for my children. (And my wife's, too.) It was one of the most powerful
things I've done, and this process brought our entire family closer together
-- and it wasn't easy, there are many tough, painful moments in my parents'
and grandparents' lives, including still unresolved fights.

I'd strongly urge any fellow hackers to record their parents' stories for
posterity.

------
bane
_Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children._

~William Makepeace Thackeray

~~~
1ces1
Ha - thank you! I had no idea that was a real quote. As soon as I read that I
was taken back to the scene where Brandon Lee said this in The Crow. Learn
something new every day..

------
ruda
It's Mother's Day in Brazil. Phoned my mom. Feliz Dia das Mães!

------
Geekette
Happy Mother's day to all mothers out there.

My condolences to those who recently lost theirs. Correspondingly, my
sympathies to those who had/have negative relationships with theirs.

Glad to be with mine today.

------
denzil_correa
I see a lot of people posting photos of their moms on Facebook and Twitter.
It's good but in addition to that, please ... do call your mom!

------
softatlas
"Why you Borklandian yorlix, hasn't everyone been slashed or thwacked with a
magic wand or had a morningstar or two broken over their head as a kid? Shit,
if that's the worst thing your Mother did, you should consider yourself fate-
blessed and smooch the ground she hovers over because you probably deserved
it.

Fracking wurtbag..."

Scrape CL, apply a lexical categorizer (porting Syntactic[0] to Python now),
pseudo-randomize, apply Tangle[1] as a front end; allow users to scale between
language species-norms over categories and submit their creations, apply a
speech-to-text tool, there's a voting board involved.

The point here is that I find prescriptive morality to be quite droll. Upon
reading this HN title, I immediately dashed over the CL to see if any
analogues might exist. The CL _in my State_ took on a characteristic
countertone to this HN post. I intuited this immediately. The output post
above is a follow-up to the OP [on CL], where the output post is consistent
with the HN OP. But there's more hilarity now.

Goal: Use "nerd" activities to diffuse prescriptivism. Now I have a port to
consider and maintain.

—

[0]: [http://syntactic.omershapira.com/](http://syntactic.omershapira.com/)
[1]: [http://worrydream.com/Tangle/](http://worrydream.com/Tangle/)

------
tuananh
Twitter posted this last year
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGB8SwwhltA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGB8SwwhltA)

------
sunilkumarc
Mother's day special

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB3xM93rXbY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB3xM93rXbY)

------
Hengjie
Skype, Viber or any other telecommunications provider should really offer free
calls to Mums on this day.

------
Nib
Me and my mom had a fight last night, stop trying to force me to call her!

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adrianlmm
I see my mother every weekend, no need for a call, I just when there.

------
known
I presented her with diamond ear rings

------
mattwritescode
Don't forget get Dad!!!

------
adnam
Tip: download Upptalk for iOS or Android and call her for free.

------
niels
Sorry, but this is not why I go to HN.

~~~
SloughFeg
You don't like your mom? What kind of monster are you?!?

------
EC1
Going to see a Tchaikovsky concert with my Mom and Dad, can't wait :) I don't
get to see them very often.

------
Systemic33
Is mothers day the results of americans working so much that they never call
their parents unless it's a day dedicated to do it? Best Regards from EU.

~~~
spacemanmatt
No, it's a day reserved for mothers from a time when could still afford to
allocate a whole day to anything. Best regards from TX.

------
rehack
It was late in the afternoon and we were late. I was thinking to myself ‘Oh
God, let today not be the day’. I started to walk faster as I thought this. My
wife was accompanying me to the place where my mother was staying. We passed
down the corridor and reached the room. I knocked at the door, but there was
no response from inside. I moved a bit to the left raising myself on my toes,
such that her bed was visible from over the cabin’s wall. I could see her
there, ‘Oh God please…’. “Mummy”, I shouted “Mummy uthiye..”. Normally, she
would getup at our knocking and move feebly to open the door.

After shouting a few times, I got impatient and tried to open the door
ourselves. Thankfully it opened. She began to move slowly, as we got in. Thank
God she was there! She half rose from her bed, and sat in a confused state. I
could see that she had wet her bed. Sad at that, but relieved that she was
alive.

How she had raised me and my sister so caringly when she was young and had lot
of energy. But now she was in her twilight, and had lost control over many of
her functions. But she still could recognize us, and so retained the most
important part of her brain function. I was filled with emotion and could not
breathe properly. There was less air in the room I thought. ‘Oh God, please
cure her of this, and I will be nice I promise’, I thought and continued to
breath forcefully.

…

Then I woke up. I had been asleep and it was a dream. Normally, when waking
out of a bad dream, one is very thankful. But not today. I was still breathing
forcefully. ‘Oh God, please cure her of her ailments and let me see her daily.
Let today not be the day, and I will be nice I promise’.

(via my blog [https://shiningleaf.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a-mother-a-
drea...](https://shiningleaf.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a-mother-a-dream/))

~~~
rehack
Can somebody please explain. Why is the parent comment short story
inappropriate, as a top level comment on this page?

Also it seems to trigger a reaction. I have seen it go upto +6 points and now
it is at 0. Means people either like it or hate it. I don't get it, whats in
that that people have to react strongly to it.

I would really like to understand.

edit: minor

~~~
dionidium
Since you asked honestly, I'll answer honestly: it's hackneyed and poorly
written and I don't think the dream's personal significance translates to a
general audience.

~~~
rehack
Thanks! Respect you for using your routine account and giving a reason.

I personally rarely use down-votes, and would just ignore a comment, if I
sense that its written in an earnest way, even though bad in quality. I agree
its not very high quality writing. But I believe, that it does hit its mark
with many people. Many more people upvoted it, than those that down voted it.

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peteryarrison
It's none of your business whether or not anyone else calls their mother.

~~~
Liesmith
This is a ridiculously hostile response.

~~~
WorldWideWayne
Commanding people to "Call your mom" like that is a ridiculous appeal to
authority.

~~~
Liesmith
No it isn't, that's not what appeal to authority means. An appeal to authority
is using someone's perceived authority to support an argument, i.e. "Actually
you're wrong, because Elon Musk says" or "Um, no, do you have a PhD in this,
like I do?" or some other attempt to override argument with the trappings of
success rather than actual merit. I know this because I have a Masters Degree.

~~~
WorldWideWayne
Yes, it is. The perceived authority here is society. _Everyone_ should call
their mom, right? Wrong.

