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Spartanburg Spark--Miss Mom: Mother’s Day memories

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Every year Mom’s all over the country find themselves on the receiving end of gifts from their children. Often the Mom’s spouse or significant other will help with the gifting part, buying something for the younger children to give to their mother.

The list of things Mom’s get from their families is quite varied. Bottles of perfume, bath salts, books, flowers, potted plants, cards, gift certificates to a nail or hair salon, small kitchen utensils, and often a late lunch at a restaurant, are common gifts. The traditional breakfast in bed still makes an appearance, especially when kids are still in grade school, but Mom’s can try to discourage that in advance. One such breakfast is enough for most moms, as they know that the food may or not be edible, and it is a surety that the state of the kitchen will be disastrous.

Kids struggle to find THE perfect gift for their mothers. And we Moms appreciate the effort and the love demonstrated. We have our favorite gifts from our children as well, and often those gifts were more non-traditional in content. I thought that this year I would share several special gifts given to special moms. These stories were all given to me by friends, and I thank every one of you for your contribution. What makes Mother’s day special isn’t the gift or the cards, it is the building of memories like these.

There was this gift from a teenager, who’s all grown up now. Her mom said it was one of her most memorable gifts.

when I was a teenager both my mom and my best friend’s mom had a crush on a baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays. So we both bought 2 tickets to a game and all went together. I think my mom liked it so much because not only was it thoughtful and something we could all do together but she knew I had no interest at all in baseball and was bored to tears but went anyway to share it with her. And probably because she got to stare at Pat Border’s butt all afternoon

A dad helped his daughter pick out a gift Mom loved every year.

When I was little my Dad would take me to Hanningtons and we would buy a Bronnely lemon shaped soap for her, I still remember the wonderful lemony scent.

This year I bought her 2 scented rose bushes, took her to the cinema and bought her flowers and a card.

Another young lady took a more creative approach.

We used to make cards for our mom. She probably still has them.

I think I wrote a song for her once, but only once, because she made me sing it to everyone we encountered. It was embarrassing.

And, in Elementary School Art Class, we made clay statues every Mother’s day. One year, the assignment was to make a bust. I was nervous about hair, so I made a balding guy (with that little ring of hair), wearing a suit. His expression didn’t come out the way I planned and he looked angry, so I made a coffee spill on his suit coat. Mom loved it.

An older brother used diligence to teach his baby sister a special word in time for Mother’s day.

Our son spent hours helping our daughter perfect saying “Mom” or “Mama” She mastered it just before Mother’s day a few years back. Neat for me but also for my step-mom who lived across country. We called her on Mother’s day so she could hear my daughter show off her first spoken word.

Another daughter followed in the footsteps of an older generation.

This year, we had sillouette paper cuttings done of Gracie and we’re giving them to my mom, my Mother-in-law, and my grandma. I remember having one of these when I was a kid (don’t know what happened to the one my mom had, but my grandma still has it, and she has one of her son, too). Of course, I’m keeping one of them for ME.

A mom shares the gifts she’s given and received, and that includes her favorite from her developmentally disabled youngest child.

I always give Momma flowers along with something handmade, we’re huge on handmade gifts in my family. When we were growing up, past the treasures you get from your little children, we always gave her and my maternal grandmother a bottle of their favorite perfume. My father’s mother got things for the many hobbies she had, including one year, rocks. Don’t laugh, she collected rocks, she polished them, made jewelry out of them. So yes, indeed, I did give my Grandma a box of rocks one year.

When they were growing up, my herd presented me with the usual and wonderful collections of painted terracotta pots, the butterfly poem hands, and one year, they even sent me flowers-prompted mostly by the little blonde girl’s threat of death to her brothers to enforce their participation. However last year, I got something that will never ever be topped.

A card. From Robbie, with the sentence Robbie loves Mom written in it. Without prompting from anybody, the first sentence he’s ever written without copying from a book. Best..Gift…Ever.

My favorite from my kids?

I had lost my little cat Gloria following a short bout with cancer. She was 13 when I had her put to sleep. My daughters decided to cheer me up and give my Mother’s day present a few days early. One of them presented me with a bracelet box. I’m thinking, “Wow, they actually spent money on my gift this year.” Then I opened the box. Inside was a pink cloth strip with fasteners on either end and sparkles throughout it’s length. My first thought was, “That is the ugliest bracelet I’ve ever seen.” Then the other daughter dumped a small white ball of fur into my lap, and I realized that the “bracelet” was actually an small cat collar. They instinctively knew I needed a new kitty to fill the hole made by Gloria’s passing. I’ve had Luna-tic for six years now, and I’ll always treasure that moment, and their delight at planning my surprise gift..

I wish everyone who is a Mom, a Grand-mom or is the child of a mom, a very Happy Mother’s day.