Partners, husbands, significant others: listen up, here’s your PSA regarding Mother’s Day gift giving.
You might be asking yourself what you could possibly do to honor the woman who has continued on the circle of life by carrying and painfully birthing your adorable offspring? How can you say thank you for seamlessly executing the down and dirty job of raising children with nothing but poise and a Mother Goose level of patience? It’s a tough job, and one she rocks every single day (it’s Mother’s Day, so don’t you dare say otherwise!). I’ll lay out some, not so subtle, hints.
This guide is especially poignant, and should be followed to the exact letter, if the children occupying your home are of ages 10 and below. These are the moms who are in the thick of it.
Breakfast in bed sounds like the perfect idea, right?! Homemade blueberry pancakes, cooked and served by the tiny little hands of children she so lovingly bakes with every week. Slow your roll! This scenario sounds delightful, but the reality is syrup will be spilled on the bed, and fights will break out over who gets to hand mom her burned flapjack. The smell of syrup never leaves, anything ever, so instead of enjoying lukewarm coffee while tucked in between toddlers, watching her 112th rerun of Curious George she will be doing a load of laundry. Then she will saunter down to the kitchen, which now resembles a war zone of eggshells and flour, only to spend time bleaching and cleaning.
Breakfast in bed is out, so then the next best idea is to head out to a fancy brunch as a family. Nailed it! Nope, stop right there. Every single solitary person in your town also has this same idea. She will have to force kids to wear something other than sweatpants, wrestle to comb their hair, only to arrive to a restaurant with a line outside the door. Prepare to wait for two hours for her Belgian waffles to arrive while hangry kids run around a white cloth laden table. No amount of bottomless mimosas will make this a relaxing time. She will want one picture of everyone looking nice, standing outside amongst the pretty blooms of spring, and will inevitably have to threaten lives for everyone to stand still and smile.
The moral of the story, on Mother’s Day, what we ladies want most of all is to not have to #momsohard. It’s not something we will readily admit, because it sounds a little selfish. Selfishness is not a quality moms tend to exhibit or exercise. So if you really want to show your appreciation for the woman who is knee deep in diapers, toddler tantrums and shuttling to daily baseball practices, it can be accomplished in a very simple manner. Allow her time to recharge. Honor her with simple, heart melting measures of love. Acknowledge that most days mom is the center of your universe, making sure everyone is happy and healthy. Let her know she is the reason the ship keeps sailing, and life would be very different without her.
How is this accomplished? Let her sleep in (!!). Encourage the kids to pick those fresh, crumpled dandelions and paint a picture only a mother could adore. Vacuum the dried Play-Doh off the floor while she takes a long shower without an audience. Plant some flowers with the kids while she gets a pedicure so she can be reminded of you every time she looks outside. Give her the gift of appreciation, stillness, pampering and sleep. It is what we, as moms, all lack so much of in our daily routines. It will refill the depleted tank of energy we must tap in to every day for family, work and all of life’s responsibilities.
The grand gestures are nice, the trinkets are thoughtful, but the sweet, simple things given out of pure love are what we want most. One day, when we are out of the weeds of littles, we will be begging for our teenagers to look up from their phones and bring us a burned flapjack. We won’t have to fight them to put on clean underwear before brunch. But until then, refer to this handy guide, break out your cleaning gloves, book a spa appointment, buy a new pack of (washable) markers and bribe the kids to be on their best behavior for this one special day for Mom. It will make for the best Mother’s Day ever.
Don’t you worry, Father’s Day is next month. We have got you covered, because we are Moms, and always prepared!
