Girl Bans Single Mom from Her Graduation after Learning She Works as a Cleaner — Story of the Day

A teenage girl bans her mother from her graduation after learning she works as a cleaner, only to learn an important lesson from her classmate later.

Mia was a 17-year-old girl who grew up spoiled. She was raised by a single mother named Ana, who worked day and night to fulfill all her daughter's wishes.

As Mia grew older, she started to demand more material things from her mom and expected no less than for Ana to provide them for her. Little did she know, her mother was working multiple jobs to keep them afloat.

At 17, Mia was starting to be more in-tune with her feelings. She was in love with a boy named Brad, who was considered the most popular guy in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, as Brad was such a popular boy, he paid no attention to her. But the young woman was determined to catch his eye, one way or another.

It was their term break, and with graduation coming soon, Mia knew it was her chance to steal Brad's heart. For this, she needed a beautiful dress that would take his breath away.

During Ana's day off, Mia asked to be accompanied to the mall. They circled several shops for hours until she finally found the perfect dress – it was a gorgeous sheer silver dress embellished in crystals and glitters.

"Oh, mom. This is beautiful! I'm going to catch everyone's attention wearing this at graduation. Please, buy it for me. This is it. I'm not going home with any other dress," Mia said, clutching onto the dress in her arms.

Ana slowly looked at the price tag and saw that the dress cost $800, which was more than she was expecting. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just can't afford it. I have to pay our bills in three days, and I won't have enough. What about this dress?" she asked, holding up a silver gown that cost less than a hundred dollars.

Immediately, Mia caused a scene. "There's no way you're making me go to graduation with that rag of a dress. It looks terrible! I don't want to look poor!" she yelled, storming out of the store.

They quietly returned home without a dress. Mia wouldn't speak to her mother and locked herself in her room without eating dinner.

As she was on vacation, she didn't leave her room to get food unless she was sure that her mother wasn't home. When she knew Ana was home, she'd keep the door locked and blast loud music so that her mother couldn't reach her.

A couple of days later, Ana knocked on Mia's room. "Sweetheart, I know you don't want to talk to me right now, but I have something for you," she said weakly.

After hearing that her mother had something for her, Mia decided to open the door. "It better be the dre-" she started to say as she swung the door open until she realized what her mom was holding. "It's the dress!" she squealed.

Ana looked tired, and her face was pale. However, Mia didn't notice this as she was busy examining the dress. "Thanks, mom!" she said, taking the dress from Ana and taking it inside her room.

The following day, Mia was excited to see Brad at school. She was beaming as she walked the hallway, knowing it would only be a couple of days until she could finally catch Brad's eye.

Little did she know, Brad had already taken notice of her. "Yo, Mia!" he said. "I was visiting friends downtown and saw your mom there. I thought she was partying too, but she was cleaning up after all the drunk people in the street. Your mom's a cleaning lady, and you're her daughter!" he said, mocking Mia.

Mia's face turned bright red. She couldn't believe what she heard, completely embarrassed. She couldn't hold back her tears, and she went straight home to scold her mom.

She stormed inside the house, startling Ana, who was fixing herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. "Mia, sweetheart, what's wrong? Why aren't you in school?"

"You're a cleaning lady?! I thought you were an artist! I thought you were selling your paintings downtown!" she cried angrily.

Ana felt terrible that she had kept a secret from her daughter, so she decided to tell her the truth. "Honey, nobody's buying paintings right now. I saw how much you wanted that dress, so I took an extra job available to be able to buy it for you," she explained.

Ana confessed she'd been working as a waitress since winter, but she also took a job as a cleaner to afford the dress on top of other bills. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew this would be your reaction," she explained.

"How could you embarrass me this way?! The boy I absolutely like saw you cleaning the street, and he approached me about it. What face do I show him in school?! I don't want everyone to know that my mom is a cleaner!" she yelled.

"Honey, there's nothing wrong with being a cleaner. It's a decent job that allows me to provide you with what you want. I hope you understand where mommy is coming from," Ana said, tears filling her eyes.

"It's embarrassing! You're not coming to my graduation. I'd rather go there alone and have no one with me than for my classmates to see you!" she said, storming upstairs.

Ana almost spilled the coffee she was holding. She was devastated and hurt. She had waited for her daughter's graduation to come for years, and now, she couldn't even attend.

On graduation day, Mia put on the new dress and covered her face in makeup. When she got to school, she saw her classmate Emma wearing a cheap dress she had seen at the mall the other week. "You look like a redneck," she told her.

Emma looked at her sadly and burst into tears. "My mom died just shortly before graduation, and I live with my grandparents. Please cut them some slack. We're not rich, and we couldn't afford to buy an expensive dress for just this one day," she told Mia.

"Besides, I don't care how I look. If I could just spend one more day with my mom... even just one day, I don't care if I walked the stage in a ragged dress. All I want is to be with my mom again. That's the only thing that would make me very happy," she cried.

As Mia listened to her story, she realized how badly she had treated her own mom. Through the years, it had only been Ana and Mia in each other's lives, and she had taken it for granted for far too long.

Mia rushed home and begged her mom for forgiveness. "I'm sorry, mom. I've been a selfish and cruel daughter to you when all you've been trying to do all these years was provide me with everything I needed and more. You're the best mom, and I never want to lose you. I'm sorry, please forgive me," she cried.

Ana had been emotional that entire day, and this moment was something she had been praying for. She cried as she embraced Mia, telling her that everything was okay. "Don't you worry, sweetheart. Today is a special day. You're about to graduate. I'm proud of you," she told her daughter.

Mia asked Ana to get dressed, as they had a graduation to attend. That day, after the ceremony, Mia introduced Ana to Brad, who had insulted her just a couple of days prior.

"Hey, Brad. This is my mom, Ana. You're right; she's a cleaner. There's nothing wrong with that, though, and I'm proud of her for working so hard. I love her, and I can't believe I wasted my time crushing on someone like you who doesn't appreciate people who work in the service industry," Mia said before walking away.

The following day, Mia joined her mom to help her with her cleaning. She did this all summer long before she had to go to college. Even then, she took a part-time job to be able to help her mom with the bills while she was studying.

What can we learn from this story?

• Time spent with loved ones is more valuable than money spent on them. Ana never said no to her daughter Mia and provided her with everything she wanted. This caused her to grow up spoiled and ultimately caused a strain in their relationship, as Mia always expected Ana to give in to what she wanted.
• We should never change who we are to impress other people. Mia wanted to impress her crush so badly, even if it meant straining her relationship with her mother. She realized that it wasn't worth it and that the only relationship worth working on was that of hers and her mom.

Share this story with your loved ones. It might inspire them and make their day.

If you liked this story, you might like this one about an old man who was banned from her granddaughter's wedding after his children discovered he had been working as a janitor.

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