Everybody has one.

One what? A mother, of course. Today is Mother’s Day here in Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s also my twin sisters’ birthdays, so to (in alphabetical order) Lilian in Ireland and Mary in Canada (hope you’re reading this), happy birthdays and also Mother’s Days.

I saw these posters the other day outside the supermarket. Maybe the advertisers thought people wouldn’t see one poster, so they put up two just in case.

I think the first white word is clever. On Mother’s Day, children (both young and old), give their mothers flowers, and you can see some flowers in the poster. But if you’re a language learner, maybe you don’t see why “flower” is clever.

It’s because there’s another word that sounds like flower: shower, and if you shower someone with something, you give them a lot of it … just like when you stand under the shower in the bathroom, the water just keeps on running and running.

These posters are encouraging children (both young and old) to buy scratch cards for their mothers. The cards are cheap: $2, $3 or $5, so they’re affordable for kids. Some people might think this isn’t a good idea because it’s encouraging gambling, but others might think it’s just a piece of fun. And you never know, she might win!

The holiday known as Mother’s Day was started by Anna Jarvis, an American, in 1908. At first, she thought it was a good idea, but she later turned against it because it became too commercialised. In other words, it was all about buying things and then buying more things. I think I agree with her.