About two weeks ago in the playground, a journalist asked me if I was a mommy blogger. Who? What is a mommy blogger anyway? It was definitely the first time I had heard of this…and my crazy ability to do soo many foreign accents kept ringing through my head…with the following question German style “Vas iss zis mommy blogger sing enyvay” (translation what is this mommy blogger thing anyway). So I read several mommy blogs, and I thought…nah, I am definitely NOT a mommy blog. Until I read my post on ‘second child and up? i think i got this. Or do you really?”……and then I realized, yup, so maybe I am sometimes. But then this post was really written in jest, and was most extremely unhelpful, so perhaps no, no I am not a mommy blogger. Still defining my niche…..maybe i am somewhere in betweeen?
So if I am possibly, a mommy blogger, “a maybe, I don’t think so , I don’t want to be labeled type-mommy blogger”, shouldn’t I be writing mommy blogger type things??? Yes. That is in a roundabout way, how I got to today’s topic…mother’s day. And since there are soo many posts out there on ideal mother’s day gifts, I figured I would probably do a better job writing about what NOT to get for mother’s day (apologies for being sincerely unhelpful but all you hardworking moms out there…you can email this to your spouses)…And just a caveat: this is not from experience, since I have always taken the liberty to “make strong suggestions periodically, like three times a day about what i would like and not like, about three weeks before the date. I am not suggesting that you take the same approach, i am just saying, it has worked for me so far….” So here is my list of mother’s day no nos
1) An apron with a customized personalized note saying “I love you mommy’. You might as well just say, “go ahead, make something for mother’s day, we should all celebrate! Only difference is, that now you can look good doing it??” Ever heard the phrase, barefoot and pregnant? Yep, point taken…
2) A new iron….”paraphrase, don’t just stand there woman, its Sunday…plus my teacher says my clothes have been looking all crinkly all week !”” (who has the time to iron kid’s clothes if they are not in east africa anyway??)
3) A cookbook (its not that we don’t like mac n cheese and pizza every day)…or a new washing machine (so that we don’t have to experience any more breakdowns)
4) An antiwrinkle cream or some eye cream? ( What???)
5) An annual subscription to the gym or an exercise DVD (So you can look like Jessica Alba, Mom….i am just saying)
All moms would like to be appreciated…so its important to mark the day….whether its through roses, or a morning sleep in….
So with little research, here is list of mother’s day gifts which I sincerely think should depend on stages in life…but at the end of day, they really depend on a mom’s personality right (which you can figure out (supermom, type a mom, hippy mom, down to earth mom, the ‘whatever’ mom)
Mother’s day gifts by stage in life
New Mom – enamoured with a little one, so maybe a personalized key chain….or penchant or even a mug with mom and baby
Mom with young kids that are not yet in preschool –Mom is probably quite drained and feeling haggered from all the running around. This mom needs a lot of ‘me time!”. Spa, or soothing bath salts, a personalized bathrobe…great ideas…. Mom wants to be pampered. How about allowing mom to sleep in which would be really really hard for kids that young, but a real treat! Breakfast in bed (it can be as simple as bagels and juice)
Mom of kids in preschool….Luckily, kids in school do tend to come home with art projects for mother’s day, which really are endearing……crafty cards with beads and too much glue, necklaces (I think I have a million of these which I really do treasure), or jewelry boxes (just stick some beads on a wooden box), really really cute and so heartfelt. To add a little extra to the day…you can allow your kids to make you a simple brunch (even if it is just peanut butter and jelly with juice spilt accidently all over) but there should be some adult supervision
Mom of teens and pre-teens – how about a scrapbook? a homemade dinner (pasta and pasta sauce? ) How about a coupon for a week off from doing any chores (let the kids name it, so it could be laundry, grocery shopping for an older child, cleaning, loading and unloading the dishwasher)
Mom of empty nesters (kid is in college, boarding school, working and living on his/her own) – flowers always work if you are long distance with a phone call…..If you can come home for the weekend, take your mom out…wine and dine her or send her to the spa…
Grandma – Grandparents just dote on their grandchildren, and can’t get enough of them. So…really just showing a beloved grandparent how much you appreciate them is sufficient…If you are artistic, a collage is a good gift..but simply a good photo in a pretty picture frame would be sufficient. You can also make cute little movies on your iphone or ipad. Or, how about a putting on a play or puppet show for them? That would work well for moms too.
Have a special mother’s day everyone!
