I recently did a poll on my Facebook page to see if I could find out what mother’s really want to receive on Mother’s Day. The answers were varied, but the overall theme was the same: moms want a break.
Moms want a break from making decisions, planning activities, the constant to-do lists, cooking, laundry, cleaning and children fighting. They’d also love some sleep, family time and to be a little bit spoiled.
So, when you are planning the perfect day for the special mom in your life, focus on activities and gifts that make her feel like she is getting a real break. Try to let her get extra sleep, plan activities without asking her what she wants to do, get the groceries, cook for her or take her out, do the laundry and clean the house and car. Trust me, these are the most valuable gifts you can give her.
But if you want to give her a tangible gift also, homemade cards documenting the reasons why the kids love and value their mother are always special. Handmade gifts from kids are always appreciated as well. And you can’t go wrong with an edible offering. I love the idea of having kids make edible bouquets to give to their moms. Based on her preferences, edible bouquets can be made from cupcakes, chocolate bars, candies or doughnuts.
To make a cupcake bouquet, purchase an inexpensive wide-mouthed mug from the dollar store, insert a tight-fitting Styrofoam ball into the mug, attach cupcakes to the ball using toothpicks and fill in the blank spaces with green tissue paper leaves glued to toothpicks.
The finished cupcake bouquet can do double duty as a Mother’s Day centrepiece until she’s ready to eat it.
You can also make chocolate bar, candy or doughnut bouquets by attaching the treats to skewers, securing the ends of the skewers together using an elastic, and wrapping the bouquets in tissue paper.
Focusing on the mom’s preferred activities is another way to ensure her day is successful. For me, cuddling up with my boys for movie night is one of my favourite ways to spend an evening, so a movie basket would make a wonderful gift. A DVD or movie gift card, movie treats and a bottle of wine wrapped up inside a popcorn bowl would be perfect. Reading or spa day baskets would be fantastic, too.
Another simple idea is to make sure she gets a photo with her kids. Often, Mom is behind the camera documenting her family’s adventures, so Mother’s Day is the perfect time to make sure she gets in the picture. A professional photo shoot would be ideal, but a few informal snapshots would work also.
For all that moms do throughout the year, it’s important to make them feel special on Mother’s Day. Pamper your mom, make sure she gets a break, tell her you love her and smother her with hugs and kisses. Happy Mother’s Day!
Gina Bell is a writer, blogger and busy mom of three boys.She has contributed to several blogs and major publications, including Disney’s Family Fun Magazine, Canadian Living and CBC Kids.
