Whose Day of Rest?

This Sunday is Mother's Day in the U.S. Probably the biggest brunch day of the year, since pretty much everyone takes their mom out to eat. But not at my house. I'll be cooking. Not for my mom, but for my mother-in-law.

Seems like it always turns out this way. Somehow, when Mother's Day rolls around, we are closer in proximity to my husband's mother than to my mother. So I send my mother something decadent via Fed Ex (usually something chocolate) and invite my mother-in-law and her husband here for a meal.

I don't really mind doing this, except it's sometimes a bit annoying that I always have to do the work rather than taking her out and having us all enjoy the meal. But it's a religious thing with her. She's a member of a very strict religious congregation...overly strict, silly strict in my opinion, but that's not really my business. She can't do anything on Sunday but go to church. Can't go out, can't shop, can't eat dinner out, can't do anything. She imposes all that on us on a Sunday, and since Mother's Day is always on a Sunday, I end up cooking.

Her rationale for not doing anything on Sunday is that it's a day of rest and one should not work, nor should they support anyone who works that day. So no shopping because that supports the retailers working; no eating out because that supports the restauranteurs working, etc. I don't even think she gets the Sunday paper, because someone had to work to make that happen (forget the practicality that the Sunday paper is actually a result of work done on Saturday...). She won't get it.

While I admire and respect anyone's religious beliefs (as long as they don't hurt someone else), I find it ironic that, subscribing to her interpretation of the "day of rest" rule, nobody should work...except me. I'll be doing plenty of work that day. I don't normally spend Sunday in the kitchen, but I will this week. Seems like work to me. It certainly won't be a day of rest, like it usually is. Funny how that perspective never enters her mind. :)

But I'll do it, out of respect for her and love for my husband (who also thinks her extreme views are a bit out there). But I'll do it for him, because he's the greatest guy ever.