Most holidays have some pretty strict traditions attached to them: on Christmas, we all sit around the tree and watch the children open gifts; on Thanksgiving the entire family gathers for a great meal; and on Valentine’s Day you finally dig into your pockets for that expensive piece of jewelry to give as a gift. But how do you spend your time on a less ritualized holiday? How, for instance, should you spend Mother’s Day?
Here’s a good outline, if nothing else. Start the day with an alarm clock—even if you don’t have school or work that day. In other words, make sure you’re awake before Mom is. This will give you a chance to do all those early-morning activities—fixing breakfast, making sure the kids’ school lunches are ready—that she would normally do herself. If you bought her a gift (surely you bought Mom a gift!), give it to her in bed. Let her know you were excited about getting her a present that you simply couldn’t wait to give it to her. From there, throughout the day, do everything you can to make sure Mom doesn’t have to lift a finger.
Most of all, though, you should spend Mother’s Day however Mom wants to spend it. It is, after all, her day. And for all the things our mothers do for us, we don’t give them nearly the amount of credit they deserve.