Hello my friends!
I will try to keep this post short but over the past few years there seems to have been more shaming of the Mum tradition and pushing students towards forgoing the almost 100 year tradition and donating funds. This effects me as a Mum Small Business Owner directly so I wanted to share my take on this and share some of my experiences over the past few years with Students.
I want to start by explaining this #1 MOST IMPORTANT FACT: All Homecoming Mum Makers are local small business owners. What does this mean for you? Small businesses help keep the American economy growing and provide income and taxes paid in your local area. When you buy from a small business, you are not supporting Multi Million dollar corporations, you are in fact supporting (as in my case) local moms put food on the table for their children and pay for extracurricular activities for their kids. It provides income for local families who are paying state and local taxes where it goes back into the community. Also as in my case I have to hire two to three employees every year to help. One who has worked with me for years uses the money to save up for Christmas every year and help pay her sons day care tuition. Another used hers to help pay for her college tuition.
Now I must say I am a huge advocate for Charity. I personally work hours every year with a local charity and donate a set amount of money every month to 3 other charities of my choice. I will NEVER say that donating is not a wonderful idea. Where the problem with the Mums has come in is from the mum shaming. Every year I have students come to me saying they want their mum but are getting a smaller one because they are made to feel badly because they wanted a mum. Most of these kids donate money in addition to getting their mum. This is what is wrong.
Here are some bullet points of what I would like people to please understand:
- Boycotting Mums hurts local small business owners. Not multi million dollar corporations. So you take away from your community. The Mum wholesalers are actually located in Texas and Oklahoma as well.
- It does not need to be a binary choice. Students should be able to enjoy the mum tradition without feeling guilty. It is possible to both donate AND still participate in the Mum Tradition.
- Why not donate year round? There have been many people who do not understand the tradition try to use it as a platform of frivolous spending that could be better suited elsewhere. Let me stop everyone RIGHT THERE. We are ALL guilty of frivolous spending. Why attack a long standing tradition only? Every year I see parents spending $500 to $1000 on a prom dress. Tuxedo rentals. Limo Rentals. If you are so concerned with frivolous spending then why not have a jeans and t shirt prom and donate the funds to charity. This idea is totally taboo because prom has long been considered a right of passage so to speak for seniors everywhere. Well here we take our homecoming mums just as serious. Or how many of us pay hundreds for handbags and shoes? The list can go on and on. I will tell you that most girls keep their mums for many years hanging them on display on their bedroom walls. These are cherished and loved memories you are creating for many people. I still remember EVERY mum I had over 25 years ago!!
- The Mum tradition has been around for almost 100 years. Some people love it and some people hate it. Regardless of how you feel it is a long standing tradition and not all traditions are loved by everyone (i.e. Green Bay fans wearing cheese on their head?? lol!) but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE just respect that it IS a tradition and don't hate on it. Telling someone their traditions are stupid and ridiculous is both rude and inconsiderate. We all come from places that have traditions you may not understand - but just appreciate it for being a tradition valued by many. No one will make you participate if you don't want to - that is always a personal choice - but don't shame people for loving a tradition that has been around longer than any of us have been :)
I hope this post doesn't offend anyone it wasn't meant to target anyone in particular. For people who do not like the mum tradition - HEY THAT IS OK TOO!!! We are all entitled to our own opinions! The point of this post was just to gain some perspective from someone who does love the tradition and wants to see it kept alive. Its part of our culture here. It doesn't matter how big or small a mum is - it is just about our long standing tradition.