Hey guys! I wanted to talk about some ways to show love to your mum this Mother’s Day that go beyond the consumerism often pushed around these sorts of holidays. I’m not against presents, but most mums do so much for us and love their families so hard that I get sad seeing “stock gifts” being pushed by so many in the blogging industry. I wanted to share some ways to thoughtfully show personalized love to our moms on the one day a year the whole world is reminded the huge contributions our moms make not only to our lives, but our society as a whole.
The Gift of Time
Now that I’m older and don’t live with my parents, the biggest thing I miss is quality time together. I think a lot of families can relate, so when I’m thinking about what I want to do for my mum for mother’s day, I almost always think about the gift of time. Time together is so hard to get sometimes, but Mother’s Day is the perfect time to carve out some space in that schedule to be together, doing something your mom enjoys. Some ideas are:
- Book a manicure/pedicure together! This is time together and forced relaxation for mom. If you’re in the Edmonton area, I’d recommend Mimosa Day Spa. They are amazing there and have been incredible accommodating to me in the past (I sometimes have to bring my own lotion because of my skin issues and they never make a fuss out of it).
- Pot your plants together! Mother’s Day is right about the correct time to be thinking about planting your flowers in Edmonton, but it can be a big undertaking to do alone. Bring over some gloves to your mom’s place and pitch in! It’s quality time, and you’re helping her out.
- Attend a cooking class together! If you visit Sorrentino’s cooking school, you’ll get to work together as a team and enjoy a delicious meal together! My family has attended a bunch of events there together over the years, but one of the funnest was the Mother’s Day dinner class that they put on last year.
The Gift of Service
Sometimes the best gifts you can give your mom for Mother’s Day are the ones you don’t even tell her about or make a big deal of. Every year around this time, I make an effort to be more present and help out with the things that often come up this time of year- spring cleaning, yard cleanup etc. To me, this is part of being a good family member, but ramping it up around this time just makes me feel good about taking some pressure off of my mum to do it all. Some easy ways for you to do the same:
- Clean for her! Most people I know would not list cleaning their house as one of their most favored tasks. Take this off her plate a time or two around Mother’s Day- even if you don’t do everything, pitching in to help with the larger tasks (like spring cleaning) can really help out.
- Cook her a nice meal (or freezer meals). My mum loves to cook, but I know so many mums find it a really onerous task that I’m sure they’d be grateful to have a night or two off from.
- Do a task she dislikes- if this were someone doing this for me, it’d be folding my laundry. I think we all can sense which tasks are the least favorite or most procrastinated, so go and do some of those for your mom!
The Gift of Love
Our mums are the first people to love us in this world. When I have a chance to show her love to the people around me, I do. This can be pretty simple- if you’re able, donate in her name to a charity close to her heart. Charities that focus on family needs or moms/kids are a great place to start if you’re not sure- some in the Edmonton area are The Terra Centre and the Zebra Child Protection Centre. One of my mom’s favorite charitable organizations is actually Operation Friendship Seniors Society– their McCauley drop-in centre served over 110 thousand meals over 365 days last year. And that’s just a fraction of what they do! (Can you tell I’m a huge fan of their work, too? You can find me dropping veggies from Mom’s garden there in the summertime, or taking part in the supply drives they sometimes tweet out.) Or maybe taking the time out to volunteer (solo, or together) in a way that makes you think of how she shows you her love. For me, I have an appointment in May to give the gift of life, which seems pretty perfect in the month we celebrate the ladies that gave us life!
What are you doing for Mother’s Day this year? I’d love to hear about how your family celebrates in the comments!
Comments are closed.