Sunday is Mother's Day and the florist shops are crammed, there are lines at the gourmet chocolate shop and even pulling together ingredients for a Master Chef meal might be a challenge with just hours left before the big day arrives.
But as any mother will relate, while jewelry and flowers and fancy French chocolate are always welcome, the one thing moms want on Mother's Day is for their children to acknowledge and appreciate the 24x7 role they've played in their lives.
Mothers are just simply taken for granted like hot water for bathing, cold clean water for drinking, abundance of food and a safe place to play, work and sleep. It's just human nature to forget how valuable and amazing it is to have such amenities, and the same holds true for appreciating Mom. She's always there. She's always doing. She's always helping.
So this year it's time to tell her, show her and truly express to her how much you love her, how critical a role she's played in your life, how thankful you are she's always been there through good days and bad days.
The best gift, as has been said, is the one that comes from the heart and involves giving your time.
Here are five ways to tell Mom what she means to you without spending a dime, waiting on a line, or scrambling at the last minute for an appliance you think she'd love (and definitely won't).
- Call her and thank her. Simple, yes. But likely the best gift she'll get on Mother's Day in the event you can't see her in person. Recall one past example of how one of the many of thousand things she's done made you a better person, or helped you succeed. Then be prepared to do that every year as she'll remind you how truly amazed she was by such an act.
- Write her a letter if for some reason you can't be there in person or get on the phone. In fact no matter what, write a letter even if you can call her or get to visit her and leave the letter on her pillow just before you end the visit. It doesn't have to be anything more than a thank you for always being there note to a page of 'remember whens,' relating to past family times and things she did for you.
- Find a great photo of your Mom and you together and put it in a nice frame. In fact make one for her and for yourself. And if there's a story behind the photo then include it with a note. Very often we just forget the times we've shared that were wonderful as life pounds down on us.
- Pick the one thing your Mom hates to do and make a voucher for doing it for her for a week, a month, a year, depending on what it is.
- Take her to a special place that means something to both of you. It could be the schoolyard playground where she would sit and let you work on those monkey bars after school. It could be the small beach where you both hunted for shells. It could be the ice cream place she'd take you when you had one of those horrid middle school days and hated the world.
Just doing one of these will make Mother's Day a very special day for you and your mom. Doing two will make it spectacular. And, hey, that's the ultimate goal of the day isn't it?
