Mother’s Day is coming up on May 10th and it’s time to start thinking about what you might want to do for your Mom {or Mom figure in your life} to remind her how special she is and how much you love her. For the love of all things holy, don’t send flowers!
Flowers for Mother’s Day is so tired! You spend $100+ dollars on a fancy flower arrangement that may or may not arrive the way you think it will. If you buy it online and have it shipped to your Mom it’s always kind of a crapshoot. If you buy and deliver in person it’s also a bit of a crapshoot because you’re often limited in your choices unless you preorder from a flower shop.
The other downside is $100+ dollars for something that will last a week at best. Even though it may be a traditional thing to give, and you might feel like a homemade or non-traditional gift will be received with a different level of enthusiasm. You can think of it this way; by showing your Mom that you love her with a gift that touches on something else in her life that she’s into is shows more that you pay attention and care about her and her interests than just giving an obligatory gift.
Other people might not appreciate your efforts, but your Mom will!
Here are a few suggestions for this year’s Mother’s Day.
A Walk Down Memory Lane From Your Perspective
This is especially awesome if you live far away from your Mom like I do. Purchase an HD digital photo frame and fill it with some of your favorite pictures of your Mom from over the years, pictures of your childhood of you and your Mom and pictures that reflect the things your Mom instilled in you. If you live far away you might want to also include pictures from your home, family and kids {if you have them…fur babies if you have those}. It’s away to show your Mom the memories of her that stick with you and how she’s influenced your life.
Name a Star, Plant a Tree After or Adopt a Penguin
If you’re Mom is a nature lover this is a cool way to connect her to something that’s important to her. NameAStart.com offers different types of packages and gifts to choose from. If you’re Mom has passed you can do a memorial start name to honor her and share the gift with a sibling or other family member to honor your Mom on Mother’s day. Seabirds.org helps to preserve the penguin population and is the only organization to offer an adopt and name a penguin service. The Arbor Day Foundation offers both memorial and celebration tree planting packages which is a great way to help the earth while honoring your Mom! {If you have a big budget and want to go big or go home with this you can name a strain of roses after your Mom!}
Love Messages In A Bottle
This is particularly great if you have kids, or if you want to bring together the children in the family to help create a really special gift for Mom. In a Mason Jar on colorful or decorative squares of paper have everyone write something they love and appreciate about Mom or little messages of healing and inspiration {if Mom’s been going through something this year it can be a great pick me up}. Have everyone fold their papers and put them in the jar. seal it up and decorate the outside of the jar if wish and wrap it in a pretty ribbon. When you give it to Mom tell her any time she needs a pick me up to shake the jar a few times and remember how loved she is and then open it up and read one of the notes.
An iPod of Musical Memories
This one may or may not fit your Mom but it’s really a great idea for an older aunt or grandmother. Purchase an iPod Nano {or another small MP3 device} and load it up with her favorite music that she may not have any more or that she may only have on vinyl. If you know things like what music she had at her wedding, her first concert, music or performance she attended or just her favorite music in her youth this can bring back tons of fond memories for her. Did you two share a musical experience? Add that!
Make Mom A Spa Day In A Basket
Sure you can buy pre-made beauty baskets but making one with your own little magical touch is even better. Make her a gemstone elixir, a jar of chakra scrub, throw in a few crystals, may an essential oil mist and other pretty spa things like a few candles, some cozy spa socks and a great loofa mitt. This is awesome because you can create and customize things like the elixir, scrub and spray to your Mom’s needs right now. Does she need to chill out? Is she dealing with an illness? Is she going through a transition in her life? Use these things to help guide you toward choices for ingredients for your basket.
Give Your Mom An Experience
You can also set up a mother/daughter date and take your Mom out for an experience to create new memories rather than resting on the laurels of past ones. Is there something your Mom has wanted to do or try but hasn’t made the leap to do it? Maybe it’s trying a yoga class, going to a French restaurant for the first time, getting a makeover {a real one not a Glamour Shots one}, redecorating a room in the house {yup, not super glam but your Mom would probably love a weekend of you and your help to finally do it…and you could pick up part of the tab} or maybe a wine and painting class. Sometimes experiences are better than material gifts, especially if you and your Mom have lost touch a bit. Your time means more than flowers.
No matter what you do, even if you do decide to send flowers, make sure that whatever you do it’s done with love and the intention of showing your Mom how much you really, honestly care about her. That’s what Mother’s Day is really about, even if you show her how much you love her all time.
How about a reading! Didn’t want to be that obvious?
HA! Yes…I thought I’d toss that in but didn’t want to seem so obvious. 😀
A few years back, I was a Girl Scout leader for my younger daughter’s troop (from Daisies through Juniors). Our troop named a star after me–it was by far the best gift I ever received. The artwork is framed and hanging in my bedroom–it’s awesome!