By Faith Evans
May is a very hectic month. Flowers are blooming from those April showers, exams are around the corner, birds are singing, teachers are yelling, temperatures are great, classrooms are cold, and- oh, shoot. When exactly is Mother’s Day? Don’t stay up late Saturday, May 7 running to the superstore to get Mom a last minute coffee mug; make this Mother’s day special with these quick, thoughtful gifts.
Considerate cards always pull at the heartstrings. The most important part of the card is the heartfelt letter expressing love and appreciation, and this element should have the majority of the inside space reserved for it. However, it is easy to add some spice to any Mother’s Day letter by throwing in some creative touches. Easy, fun approaches include using words and letters clipped from magazines to create the letter, writing mom a little poem (“roses are red…”), breaking out the stamps and ribbon to decorate the card, or designing your own pop-up card (see an easy step-by-step at http://tinkerlab.com/simple-diy-pop-up-cards-for-creative-kids/ ).
Homemade coupon books are often underrated, but done right, they are way more useful than those silly kindergarten attempts at committing oneself to blank hours of servitude. With some index cards, markers/colored pencils, and a stapler, they’re really quick and easy to make, too. What chore does mom hate to do the most? Simply write her a nice little voucher promising to complete the task for her on the occasion that she redeems the coupon. Come up with a few ideas of what other errands mom might appreciate getting done, and jot all these down on the index cards (No expiration dates, catches, or loopholes- these tend to detract from the sincerity of the gift). When done, staple it all together and put it in a nice little envelope to present to mom.
For those with a little more time, a walk down memory lane can be a great gift. Collect all those old pictures of Mom through sources like Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, facebook profiles, and personal/relative’s devices. From there, either upload them all onto a powerpoint and set it to some music, or make prints and paste them all down into a photo album. Tears will flow when mom sees the loving effort behind this great yet simple gift.
Another classic Mother’s Day surprise is breakfast in bed. The key here is not to overdo it; keep it to several basic, easy-to-make breakfast foods to ensure a yummy, un-burnt meal. Classic combos include toast with butter and jelly, eggs (hard boiled, scrambled, or fried), oatmeal, and/or a fruit bowl. For the more advanced Mother’s-Day-morning chefs, other options may be pancakes, a breakfast burrito, sausage, and/or bacon. Top it all off with Mom’s choice breakfast drink, add a flower from the garden, and put it all on a tray or pan to take up to mom’s bedroom.
Whatever the approach, know that the best Mother’s Day gifts are the ones that are thought-out and come from the heart. Maybe that “World’s Best Mom” coffee mug would mean more to Mom than a card or breakfast in bed. As long as the gift is personal and thoughtful, it will be sure to make her feel loved.
On May 8, at the end of a spectacular Mother’s Day, sons, daughters, and fathers everywhere raise all the “World’s Best Mom” coffee cups of years past in a toast to the miraculous mothers who shape the lives of their families every day.
