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Next week is Mother’s Day. It is a day when we honor mom. Whether you have a child, children, or children in the form of dogs and/or cats it’s important to honor those women who are the caregivers. They do so much day-in and day-out for our families no matter the composition. We will honor the dad caregivers in June so stayed tuned for those ideas.

The main idea here is that you do something either for your mom to honor her or with your mom. One of my favorite things to do is garden. I learned lots about gardening helping my mother over the years. My favorite thing to do with my mother when she was still alive was tour gardens. We even spent 10 days together in May 2002 touring gardens in England. The above picture is of the two of us at one of the beautiful gardens we visited that year.

My traditional Mother’s Day gift for my mom was a day spent together touring a garden. Often the tour was not on Mother’s Day so I would get a card, the tickets for the tour, and then present that to my mother on Mother’s Day. I keep this tradition alive and honor my mom by taking a garden tour in May.

Are you stumped? Do you have trouble coming up with ideas of things to do to honor mom? Let me come to your rescue with these 3 ideas.

Honor mom with gifts of service

Does your mom have a list of things she would like to change in her home? Maybe mom has talked about rearranging the furniture in the living room. I am not suggesting you go ahead and do this on your own. Mom would most likely want to be involved. You can, however, offer to be the muscle to make this happen. Offer to rearrange the furniture with her.

Maybe mom would like to put out the patio furniture. You can offer to get out the patio furniture and wash it for her so that it is ready to use if the weather is such that she wants to spend time outside.

Would your mom like to have the planters planted? Ask if you can take your mom to pick up some plants for her planters and then offer to help her plant them.

Honor mom with quality time spent together

The best conversations often happen when nothing much is going on. When you are just spending time being together. If you aren’t living with your mom, see if you can schedule some time together. Maybe invite your mom to visit you or you schedule time to visit mom.

I know that planning a trip can be a major expense so if that is out of the question consider having a virtual meet up through Facebook messenger. I have a Facebook portal in the kitchen and love the spur of the moment short conversations that can happen with that devise. Do you know about the Facebook Portal? It is simple and fun to use. My granddaughter, age 4, also uses it to call me. All she has to do is touch my picture on the screen. When I’m not using it to visit with my family, it scrolls through pictures that I have added to it.  Maybe your mom would like to have one to make virtual visits easier.

If you are lucky enough to live nearby, schedule lunch or dinner with your mom.

Honor mom with a thoughtful card

For some, it’s hard to put words together when you are in-person. If this is you, consider writing a lovely thoughtful card to tell the mom in your life what she means to you. Taking time to put your thoughts on paper and then mailing them is a gift in and of itself. I love the cards I have received over the years. I admit, I have kept many of them because they were so special.

This is the week, the week before Mother’s Day, to make your plans and decide how you will honor mom next Sunday.

If you are stumped for ideas, I hope the ones I have presented here will spur you into action.

Diane N. Quintana is a Certified Professional Organizer® ,a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization®, Master Trainer and owner of DNQ Solutions, LLC and co-owner of Release●Repurpose●Reorganize, LLC based in Atlanta, Georgia.

9 Comments

  • Julie+Bestry says:

    What a wonderful way to look at this holiday, which can be either lovely or difficult, depending on one’s stage in life. I’m looking forward to spending this weekend with my fabulous 86yo mom, whom I’ve only been able to see once since the start of the pandemic. My sister, my mom, and I are double-vaxxed, double-boosted, masked, and eschewing indoor restaurants, but we’ll be laughing and eating together, and I know my mom believes that laughter is the best thing you can share with those you love.

    Thank you for this beautiful piece.

  • I’ve never heard of Facebook portal. I’ll have to check it out.
    I’ll be out of town on Mother’s Day this year, so celebrating on Thursday with my mom.

  • Diane, Great reminders of simple acts that are meaningful and also collaborative. Just in time for Mother’s Day!

  • Seana+Turner says:

    This can be a hard day if you’ve lost your Mom. Mothers are special, and those of us have/had good relationships with our Moms are lucky indeed!

    These are beautiful ideas, Diane. What a joy to share a love of gardens with your Mom. We can learn so much from someone who has spent years acquiring knowledge on a subject, especially someone with who we can share the love. I love thinking of you and Mom having had a chance to tour gardens together. If you’ve never been, the NYC Botanical Gardens and Longwood Gardens are both treats!

    I’ve been focused on getting experiences and consumables for my Mom in recent years. She loves flowers, and my Dad always gets her those. I’ve given her plants, tickets, and food. This year, I’m sending her some of her favorite muffins. It doesn’t need to be expensive, and honestly she doesn’t want much these days. Just to be remembered and called!

  • What a wonderful list of ways to honor mom! Thank you. While my mom has passed some years ago, I love these ideas. I am definitely going to share this post in my Facebook groups to give others ideas.

  • Very thoughtful post, Diane!

  • I love the photo of you and your mom on your garden tour. And what lovely memories you have of gardening with her and also touring gardens together as your annual Mother’s Day gift. I love that while she is gone, you continue that tradition in her memory. That’s so beautiful. Now I understand even more where your love of gardening comes from. It’s not just your love of flowers, plants, and nurturing, but the connection of wonderful times spent with your mom.

    This is my second Mother’s Day without my mom. It still feels weird and sad. But you’ve given me such great food for thought. Even though she’s no longer here, maybe I can find some way to celebrate her anyway, as you do for your mom. Thank you.

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