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No, this is not a post where I will give you links to everything I like!
This is a more practical post that probably every mother can relate to.
Let me start with a little background of my husband and I:
- I am a mom of five kids, and I grew up in a home with three sisters where we celebrated Mother’s Day as a major holiday. So my views on Mother’s Day are very different than other people who had a totally different upbringing. I did not truly realize this until my husband and I had our first child.
- My husband had five siblings, yet his dad never celebrated holidays like Mother’s Day (or Father’s Day). My father is a stoic, Vietnam Vet, who detests displays of affection based on what he sees as Hallmark holidays. And my mother, being Vietnamese, did not know anything about “Mother’s Day” until she came to the United States in 1975 and already had four kids! To her, you honor your ancestors all year long, but you especially honor your ancestors around the Chinese New Year and other holidays.
So on my first Mother’s Day, we had this precious little girl who we had prayed for and desired for many years now, and my first Mother’s Day was very anti-climatic!
I even cried that first Mother’s Day when I realized that my husband didn’t have a card and present for me!
What was his response? “You are not my mother; I give presents to my mother.” I guess that is logical, but I was hurt.
Fast-forward 11 years, and we have now five children and different expectations of each other.
I have changed in these ways:
- I no longer expect big presents.
- I no longer expect breakfast in bed (he can’t cook a thing anyway!)
- I see his love for me in the things he does every day of the year–coaching our kid’s t-ball team, watching the kids when I go out, letting me stay up to the wee hours of the morning and having a messy house when I’m trying to do my blogging, vacuuming the house, playing and reading to the kids, working hard so that I can stay home, and so many other thing . . .)
- I don’t get so emotional anymore and base his love for me on one day of the year.
And my husband has totally changed when it comes to Mother’s Day as well! He sees how that he has to instill that respect for and love of Mom by encouraging gifts of gratitude on holidays like Mother’s Day! Here are some ways that he has done that without some lavish expenditure of money! (Of course, he does not do all of these every year!)
- While I am out, he and the kids clean the house without me knowing!
- He gets take-out so that I don’t have to make dinner!
- He’ll give me the day off from doing dishes!
- He’ll watch the kids in the afternoon so that I can get a few hours of quiet to do whatever I want! That might be just reading a good book, getting caught up on some blogging, or shopping!
- He’ll help the kids make me a card.
- He’ll take the kids to the Dollar Store where they all can pick something out they want to give me.
- The kids will pick flowers for me from outside.
- He has bought me flowers from the store! Check out Mybaskets.ca for more Mother’s Day gift ideas.
- If he does buy a present, he knows what I want. For example, I can only wear earrings that have gold studs. Because of that, I only have one or two pairs of earrings. So he has bought me a pair of earrings for Mother’s Day!
- And he will now buy me a card just from him! 🙂
Of course, the perfect Mother’s Day gift might be something entirely different for you.
For me, it’s seeing us together and loving one another.
Check out Mybaskets.ca for more Mother’s Day gift ideas.
I do want to be remembered, but I am happy as long as I have my family around me!
What are your favorite ways to be celebrated on Mother’s Day?
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Great post. I have been thinking about what I like for Mother’s Day. I am definitely with you… it is more time and showing someone appreciates the work I do, and then tries to help me with that work. I am not sort of a pamper girl. I do like to get things for my garden each year…something for me to grow and nurture. 🙂
I am getting to appreciate the gift that has thought and appreciation more than any other kind of gift that just involves money. I always plant for my mom her front planters with flowers, and we get for the kids’ teachers hanging baskets. You can enjoy flowers/vegetables all summer long (and your produce all winter long too!)
I think you and my mom would get on rather well, she is also not a fan of material stuff. Getting take out so I don’t have to cook is a winner for me as well.
I don’t care what I eat if I don’t have to cook! I’ve always been a saver, so I can’t really enjoy extravagant gifts unless I need them. Thanks for commenting!
Those all sounds like great ideas to me. We often go out to eat; sometimes he buys me something I like while we are out. This year I got a drill, because we want to build a house together. :]
My mom buys her own presents and gives them to my dad to give to her as he buys terrible presents! The drill is an awesome present! If you blog about building your house, drop me a line so I can come read it! My husband and I have fixed houses, but never built one.
Great post Tammy. Mother’s Day is a great day for us to just hang out with family and celebrate. Plants are always great gifts as we can enjoy them all year long.