You would think that being a mother I would get my shit together and mail my mom the obligatory Hallmark Mother’s Day card in time. I woke up this morning and smacked my head because our US Postal system will not get a card I pop into the mail today in Connecticut to the suburbs of Chicago by Saturday. Somehow an eCard doesn’t seem, well, seemly. So I am left with a quandary… what to get Mom to show her that I forgive her for tormenting me all those years which led to years of therapy love her? And, I have to get it to her quickly.
Here is a quick list of my go-to gifts for my dear ole mom:
Nonnie Waller’s: This Southern company is my favorite for Mother’s Day 
and is always appreciated by my mom and mother-in-law. Here is the scoop. They make amazing pound cakes — vanilla and chocolate — and they put the cake in a beautiful hatbox along with a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Moms get to eat the cake, enjoy the flowers and keep the hatbox. My mom stores all her sewing notions in hers. My mother-in-law keeps all the extra buttons she gets when buying clothes in hers on top of her makeup table.
Family Tree Photo Dear old Mom is getting this gift on Saturday. 
Just popped in my credit card in the Red Envelope site. Nice way to display your family tree with pictures. Warning: if you have not produced a grandchild, you may get bugged that you haven’t produced offspring to fill a picture. Send her a picture of your kitteh or bunneh instead.
Wine Cooler Sleeve I was the recipient of this gift last year from one of my kids. Love this thing. Keeps the whites and roses chilly without a drippy bucket. Stops the bottle sweating too.
Artisanal Salt Set My mother-in-law is quite the foodie. I saw this on a quick perusal of the Internet this morning and snapped it up for her. Four different types of salt, including my favorite, Fleur de Sel. If you’ve never had Fleur de Sel, you have lived a hollow life. Get some, stat. (Yes, I take care of my mother-in-law’s gift. Lame, I know)
Of course, the best gift of all is time with the old lady — at least that is what moms want you to think. Take her out to brunch or do some chores with her. My favorite activity with the kids is to garden with them. Sunday will be a great day for them to help me plant my pots, do a bit of weeding, and frolic in the back with the chickens.
Here are some fun facts, thanks to Wikipedia, about Mother’s Day:
– Americans will spend this year approximately $2.5 billion on flowers, $1.5 billion on pampering gifts—like spa treatments—and another $68 million on greeting cards.
– Mother’s Day generated just shy of 8% of the jewelery revenue in 2008.
– Anna Jarvis started Mother’s Day back in May 9, 1905. She hated what it became. She detested the whole commercial greeting card practice. She thought it reflected supreme laziness that one couldn’t even write a personal note of gratitude to your Mother. She was eventually arrested for disturbing the peace when she protested what Mother’s Day had become — a commercialized holiday. She finally said that she “wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control …”
What are you planning to give Mom to prove you are not a honey badger and that you really do give a shit?
