Ontario woman receives a Mother’s Day card from her daughter with an unexpectedly morbid message: ‘We’re gonna be having the time of our lives’

Mothers receive all sorts of gifts during Mother’s Day, and there’s hardly just one way to celebrate the universal holiday. But Allison Leigh (@allison.leigh.photos) from Ontario, Canada, shared an unusual Mother’s Day card she received from her daughter. Although she was initially thrilled, the message in the card left her with mixed emotions.

Allison posted a TikTok video captioned, “Not quite the Mother’s Day card I was expecting… Ouch.” She explained in the clip that when her daughter Isla was younger, Isla would often leave Allison out of family drawings. Isla’s father and brother and she would be present, but not Allison. When asked about it, her daughter would make the excuse of her mother not being present—hence, why she isn’t in her drawing either.

But on Mother’s Day this year, Allison was finally included in her daughter’s drawing. Isla gave her mother a Mother’s Day card with a drawing of herself and Allison at the front under a rainbow.

When she opened the card, she saw another drawing of herself and her daughter—nothing unusual until she saw the message on the right side of the card.

A message no mother would want to receive on Mother’s Day

It reads, “When you die, I always know that you’ll be looking down at us, hoping me and Rhys won’t be in a fight.” Rhys is Isla’s brother. “But in reality, we’re gonna be having the time of our lives.”

If the message wasn’t a cause for concern, the drawing beneath it definitely is. It showed Isla and Rhys with wrinkles, having a chat. Allison was drawn as a stick figure in the air as a “ghost.” Isla emphasized that their mother is already dead on the next page of the card.

“I can’t quite decide if I would rather this,” Allison gestures to the eerie message, “or rather not be in the drawings at all.”

Social media was upset on Allison’s behalf. One commented, “This is so strange, I’d genuinely be sad.”

Another wrote, “This isn’t funny it’s actually concerning.”

Someone else pointed out, “notice how the ghost has no wrinkles…” And based on the drawing, Allison’s ghost did not look old. Perhaps social media is giving too much meaning to the card, but it is a disturbing message to receive from a child. She also seems to be aware of what wrinkles imply, and yet her mother’s ghost had none—which led people to assume that the child thinks her mother will die young.

With the additional context of Isla not including her mother in most drawings, social media was convinced that Isla does not like her mother.

Not as morbid as the internet thought it would be

In a follow-up video, Allison said Isla explained the meaning of her Mother’s Day card.

Although she’s still dead on the last page of the card, it’s a flash-forward for Isla. Allison said, “We will always be together, and we will always be having the time of our lives.” It’s not what anyone expected for sure—upon reading the card, most of TikTok was shocked by the message. But it turns out that Isla may not have the right words to express herself just yet.

“I can’t believe I misunderstood it,” Allison said. “But that turns out, it is the absolute sweetest thing for Mother’s Day.”

In fact, Isla seems remorseful about the situation—she even made another Mother’s Day card for Allison. It’s a copy of the old one, but without the creepy page. She replaced it with “Happy Mama Day” without any floating ghosts. TikTok wasn’t entirely convinced—some even suggested Allison post about her daughter’s upcoming Father’s Day card.

Regardless, it all seems like a silly mistake for a kid who appreciates and adores her mother but without the vocabulary to express it.

(featured image: allison.leigh.photos)

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