I used to stress about what to get my mom for Mother’s Day. For years they were flowers, cards, clothes or even decorative elements for her house. As I got older, I realized that the things she kept and bragged about the most were the things that cost little or nothing but came from true love. You know, the handprint in plaster and/or paint, the mug with the picture of us together at the zoo, and the glitter-covered handwritten card that said nothing but “I love you, mom.”
Well, I’m not a kid anymore, but I still find that Mommy’s favorite thing is gifts that create or retell good memories together.
It was at that very moment that I knew I had to do something different for my Mother’s Day gift giving. She needed more from me and us and much less just for her. Moms aren’t about taking, they’re about giving… especially giving of themselves to those they love most. I needed a Mother’s Day gift that would show not only that I appreciated all she had done for me, but also remind her that our time together truly meant something she couldn’t miss.
Now that I know the real secret to what Mom really wants for Mother’s Day, it has become one of my favorite holidays and one that we both look forward to every year.
These are just two of the ideas that have kept my mom bragging to her friends and the rest of the family for months.
Mother’s Day Gift Idea #1: Keepsake Letter
I got this idea from the old glitter covered card I still had from my school days. I just took it to a new level.
Very simply, I downloaded some free stationery pages to use as decoration. Then I sat down and made a list of some of the best moments I’ve ever had where my mom played a part. Vacations, shopping trips, long drives to take me to sporting events, anything that brought a vision of my mother into my head. The bad times that she made better for me were even better.
So I just sat down and put those stories in writing. You know… “Dear mom, do you remember when…” and I filled several pages with those vivid memories. In the end, I just wrote, “Mom, it’s the little things you did that I’ll always remember the most.”
Then I printed out the stationery pages (I have lousy handwriting so I typed them up) on the stationery downloads and sealed them in a nice envelope that said “To Mother With Love – Don’t Open Until Mother’s Day” and put that envelope inside another to send by mail.
I was told that tears of joy fell for days and she reads the letter several times a year. I got the biggest hug in the world the next time I was home for a visit.
Mother’s Day Gift Idea #2 – The Photo Memory Journal
The idea for this came from the photo mug I made of him when he was a teenager. Again, I just took the basic idea and moved it up a few runs on the ladder.
This happens in two parts. part OneBuy an inexpensive journal or journal at your local retail store or bookstore. If you’re really strapped for cash, you can also download some free digital stationery page templates, print out a few pages, and attach them with ribbon or lace. Your mom won’t care how much it costs, since it will be the second part that makes the gift.
The second part:
This is what really makes it special. Plan a day (rain or shine) that you both have free, preferably just a few days after Mother’s Day. You can do it earlier, but I think it’s better if the second part happens later. Choose a special place, such as a garden, a park, a tea room, or another photogenic place. You can even plan an afternoon tea followed by a trip to the tropical gardens etc.
On the first page of the diary, you will put the expected date, the time you will pick her up, and a note to dress for rain, dress for casual, or dress for formal. Nothing else except Happy Mother’s Day Mom and your signature.
The anticipation will build over the next few days leading up to the event and that serves to set the mood and ingrain the memory. If your area is prone to spring rain/snow or other similar weather, make sure you have a backup planned if it’s not an indoor event.
The real key is that you are going to do something special together and take pictures and journal memories to go along with it. I even had the rest of the family show up at the end and had professional photos of the entire family taken…for the first time in over 10 years. My point is that you can do this for next to nothing or you can, if you have the means, spend a little money and get some professional help. The result is the same… Joy and a new treasured memory you made together that will be remembered for many years to come.
Now that you get the idea, take a look around your mom’s house and in her closets… ask her if she still has any of your childhood gifts or art projects. Then use a little imagination and make it an updated Mother’s Day that she won’t soon forget.
One last note.
We filled just a few of the pages of that first diary with memories and photos. Now, we plan little trips together a couple of times a year so we can complete the rest of the book. She treasures these times more than I can tell you and one day, when she is no longer with me, I have no doubt that I will be treasuring the book even more.
Memories of Happy Mother’s Day…
