Family Holidays/Special Occasions
by Grown and Flown | November 10, 2022
The holidays are upon us, and many of us are waiting anxiously for our college students and adult kids to barge in the front door, yelling, “I’m home.”
During the holiday season, moms and dads everywhere look forward to the special moments we will have with our kids. But even if they have families of their own or distance makes it so that we can’t see them, we spend weeks planning a menu that includes their favorite meals. Traditions must be maintained.
The Publix commercial released this year hit us in all the feels. The producers nailed exactly what it’s like to stay in touch while not physically together. Fair warning: you will need tissues because it’s going to make you ugly cry.
Publix commercial is about staying connected with family
Of course, the daughter doesn’t need mom for her stuffing recipe, but she needs to hear, see, and feel her mom’s presence. And she needs to maintain the family traditions she fell in love with growing up.
We miss our grown kids.
We miss the life they bring into our homes.
We miss their laughter.
We miss being able to reach out and hug them.
And we miss those quiet moments when we have them all to ourselves.
The holidays can be a stark reminder of the thousands of tiny moments that have slipped like sand through our hands too quickly.Life happens during the holiday season, and it’s never more apparent than when our kids aren’t home because they are independent and all grown up with their own families.
But, just like the mom in the Publix commercial, we all know that no matter how grown up our kids are, there are those moments when they realize that they still need their mothers.Even if only to give them grandma’s recipe. We are there for them, and that’s what matters this holiday season.
Slow clap, Publix. Slow clap. Thank you for helping us to remember to hold onto those moments with our kids.
More Great Reading:
Holiday TV Commercials That You will Want to Watch Again and Again
Home / Articles / Family Life / Family Holidays/Special Occasions / New Publix Commercial, “A Recipe for What Matters,” Made Us Cry
About Grown and Flown
Mary Dell Harrington and Lisa (Endlich) Heffernan are the co-founders of Grown and Flown the #1 site for parents of teens, college students and young adults, reaching millions of parents every month. They are writers (Lisa is a New York Times bestselling author), moms, wives and friends. They started the Grown and Flown Parents Facebook Group and are co-authors of Grown and Flown: How to Support Your Teen, Stay Close as a Family, and Raise Independent Adults (Flatiron Books) now in paperback.
Read more posts by Grown and Flown
Stuff We Love
11 Unique Thank You Gifts for Every Member of the Wedding Party
by Marah Eakin | May 28, 2024
When planning a wedding, there’s a lot to think about, from the dress to the venue to the seating plan—and you’ve helped your teen every step of the way. Let us help take one thing off your plate with this guide to the very best wedding thank you gifts to thank anyone who has given…
Continue Reading
Family Holidays/Special Occasions
Mother of the Bride Versus the Wedding Planner: A Lesson in Letting Go
by Julie Burton | May 11, 2024
From the ecstatic moment of my daughter’s engagement to her college sweetheart in October of 2021, I had a precise vision of how the wedding planning would go. Since Sophie, my first born of four, had declared inthis Grown and Flown piecefrom 10 years ago that I was her most valuable asset in college, I…
Continue Reading
Adulting
How to Be a Great Wedding Guest: 6 Essential Tips For Young Adults
by Marybeth Bock | April 29, 2024
It’s wedding season again and that means your young adult child may have gotten or will soon be getting an invitation to a friend’s or colleague’s wedding celebration. Maybe they’ve been to a number of weddings before, but those have been family events, where they’ve been under your watchful eye or surrounded by extended family…
Continue Reading
Family Holidays/Special Occasions
I’ve Changed Mother’s Day Completely: It’s About Being Grateful that My Kids Made Me a Mom
by Cindy Kaplan | April 29, 2024
As a parenting coach with three children, I’ve come to realize it’s up to me to honor myself. Years ago, I started telling my family what I wanted for Mother’s Day to avoid (the multiple years of) disappointment, resentment, and self-pity. It crushed me and made me envious when friends told me that their children…
Continue Reading
Family Holidays/Special Occasions
Why I Don’t Wait for My Kids to Call Me on Mother’s Day
by Courtenay Rudzinski | April 17, 2024
One year when my kids were little, my son asked me to drive him to the store a day before Mother’s Day. He brought his velcro SpongeBob wallet and wanted to get me a gift. I was touched. We both loved Reese’s peanut butter cups, and I watched as he carefully counted out his money…
Continue Reading
Teen Girls
Why Letting Go of Birthday Parties Is Harder Than I Expected
by Della Cassia | March 3, 2024
I gave up asking my almost 15-year-old daughter what she wanted to do for her birthday. After years of her begging me to plan the next party as soon as the other one ended and me assuring her that we had plenty of time to talk about it, the roles have been reversed. Now, I…
Continue Reading
Stuff We Love
24 Best Father’s Day Gifts for the Dads In Your Life
by Jeff Bogle | February 7, 2024
I am slightly biased since I am a dad, but I think that buying awesome Father’s Day gifts is so much fun nowadays. This is because dads are diverse and interesting, meaning that you’ll be presented with far more than golfing and grilling gifts, although those are great too if the dad in your life…
Continue Reading
Family Holidays/Special Occasions
New Year’s Resolutions: Now That Your Kids are (Nearly) Grown
by Lisa Endlich Heffernan | December 29, 2023
Every December since becoming a parent I have vowed to do better. I promised to spend more time playing on the floor with my kids. I swore I would volunteer at school more regularly. I pledged to be more patient with my teens and later to send care packages to college. Each year, I made…
Continue Reading
Family Holidays/Special Occasions
How ‘The Family Stone’ Found Its Way Back Into Our Christmas Lineup
by Morgan Baker | December 15, 2023
Weeks before Christmas, my family starts bingeing Hallmark movies and any other holiday movie we can find. Last year, we addedYour Christmas or Mineand aBoy Called Christmas to our must-watch list that already includesIt’s a Wonderful Life,ElfandArthur Christmas. But there is one movie we pass over every year. Eighteen years ago, a new romcom was…
Continue Reading
Family Holidays/Special Occasions
Now I Understand How Much My Mom Did for Christmas, I’m Trying to Do It Too
by Elizabeth Spencer | December 5, 2023
My favorite part of Christmas when I was growing up was ‘The Pile.’ Once we got the“okay!” from my dad, my brother, sister and I would race from my parents’bedroom where we had huddled on their bed to wait impatiently while they made coffee and turned on the Christmas lights, put on the Christmas music…
Continue Reading