22 REALLY Last-Minute Ideas for Mother's Day!

Much of the world observes Mother's Day, although different countries do so at different times of the year. In the United States, (where I live now) Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May. It is a day designated to honor our mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers, the mothers of our children, and all of the important mothers in our lives.

Sometimes though, despite it getting a lot of media attention,  Mother's Day can somehow catch us off-guard.

Your intentions were good! 

You fully intended to think of a way to make Mother's Day really special this year.  But - - how did this happen?! It is suddenly the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend, and you have no plan.  Yikes. You could still buy flowers or chocolate at the grocery store, but that may not seem quite special enough, and might not even be an option at this late date, if Mom is far away.

Don't despair and certainly, don't give up! 

It is true that there is no way that gift you were thinking about ordering on-line will now arrive on time ... and it is much too late to have a piece of jewelry personalized ... and there's no way you could possibly afford to surprise her with a plane ticket departing tomorrow for Hawaii!  BUT - it is still possible to make tomorrow the perfect Mother's Day for the important mothers in your life!

22 suggestions that just might help you out ...

1.  
Use your words! In person, on the telephone, in writing.  It doesn't matter how - but make sure you tell your mom how much you appreciate her! Gifts and other efforts are nice, of course - but most mothers really want to be told that they are a good mom!

2. 
Spend time with Mom on Mother's day - or call her if you can't!

3. 
A Mother's Day card (store-bought or homemade) is always nice, but it will mean so much more if you write a few lines in it. . . about what Mom means to you, why you love her, or about a favorite memory or two you have of her.

4. 
Sometimes nothing beats a handmade gift.  I treasure the gifts my children made for me when they were small. Especially the framed haiku poetry they each wrote in elementary school, with adjectives (humorous and touching) they believed best described me!

Haiku's  describing me as caring, kind, helpful, phenomenal, lovely and perceptive ... of course I framed and treasure them!

5. 
Be the cook on Mother's day (and be sure to clean up afterwards) ...  or take Mom out to eat.

6. 
Offer your services. Do some chores you know Mom would like help with (or clean your room!) without being asked!

7. 
Plan an outing to a local mother's day celebration. One of my favorite mother's day memories is from a time when we attended the Mother's Day Pots and Plants Sale at the Archie Bray Foundation years ago in Helena, MT.  There were lots of flowers and hand-made pots to choose from, and activities for kids to do.  I might suggest we go again this year!

8. 
Write something nice about your mom. Give it to her, publish it on Facebook or your blog, or submit it to a contest or an anthology.  I think both my mom and my mother-in-law were quite touched by the tribute I wrote about them last year.

9. 
Give Mom a framed photo of the two of you together. Even better, choose a photo that includes your siblings, and make it a gift from all of you. 

10.
Make a coupon book of I.O.U.'s; things you will do for your mom, redeemable whenever she chooses. (If you don't want to make your own coupons, just print this cute booklet from Skip to my Lou.)

11. 
Think of a book you know Mom will love, and download it to her eReader. (Order her a Kindle if she doesn't have one!) Also, be sure to give her some guilt-free leisure time to begin reading it on Mother's Day!

12. 
Order a subscription to the app NextIssue - I haven't personally tried it yet, but for someone who loves magazines, it seems like a great option! Unlimited magazine access anywhere - without paper clutter ... it sounds pretty awesome to me!

13. 
Arrange for an Instant Delivery Gift Card for her favorite place to shop or eat, to be emailed to her from Amazon. It can still arrive to her computer on time!. Or, give Mom an Amazon gift card so she can pick out her own gift - and/or provide her with the Gift of Amazon Prime!

14. 
Plan a family hike, picnic, or adventure on Mother's day. Make sure Mom doesn't have to do any of the prep or cleanup work involved with this - including unpacking the picnic basket, washing the dog, and scraping off muddy shoes when you get home!

15. 
Is your mom the type of person that doesn't want much for herself, but loves to help others? Check out the website That's Caring - for a fun list of small gifts with far-reaching impact.  Even if the gift won't arrive on Mother's Day, your mom will feel great knowing that when she gets it, someone else will benefit as well.

16. 
Show Mom you support her in pursuing her own interests.  Find out if there is a local class or an on-line course she would like to take, some educational material (book, ebook or video) she would like to have, or a club membership she has been wanting. Pay the sign-up fee or purchase the educational materials, so she can improve her efforts in photography, writing, fitness, blogging, cooking, golfing, foreign language or whatever her passion may be. (It's probably best to get her input when selecting this purchase, as some courses require a significant time-commitment to complete, and it therefore should be the one she really wants!)

17. 
Speaking of blogger moms. How about a gift that every blogger would love to have?  Turn her blog into a book! You will want her input before you order this, as there are a variety of companies and options to choose from (and unfortunately I have not researched them enough yet to know which to recommend), but presenting her with this opportunity would be a wonderful surprise! 

18. 
Give Mom the gift of time.  This list of The 10 Best Time-Saving Home Appliances published by Forbes might give you some ideas.  But, if they are beyond your price range, consider these more affordable options: If she always chops everything by hand, she might love it if she knew a Mini-Prep Food Processor would soon be arriving in the mail. Maybe your mom would enjoy having someone else clean her house. Or even just washing all the windows. Can't afford to hire someone to do this for her? Find a day when you can do it for her yourself!

This little well-used mini-chopper was a wedding present, and has saved me a lot of time over the years! 

19. 
Teach her something.  What are you better at than your mom? Would she love a lesson in how to apply makeup? Or maybe she needs help organizing her digital photos. If she's never been good at gardening,but it's your thing - teach her some of what you know.  Has she figured out how to use the camera and the calendar on the iPhone you got her last Christmas? Maybe she needs a lesson or two on how it works.

20. 
Show some sibling love.  Knowing that her children get along is almost as important to a mom as knowing they love her. Mending your disagreements with siblings could be the best gift you ever give your mom.

21. 
Ask Mom how she wants to spend this Mother's Day, and try to grant her request. Her answer might surprise you.  Instead of wanting to go on that hike you were planning, she might instead just want the whole family to help weed the garden.  Or, who knows - she might even just want to spend the whole day by herself!

22. Give Mom an email subscription to this blog, so she can stay current with all the ways it offers to "make the most of all her moments."  Just enter her email in the subscription box at the top of the blog, and remind her to respond to the verification message she receives to verify her subscription.  And guess what? It's free!

Remember that trip to Hawaii I mentioned earlier? Well, just because you couldn't arrange it for this weekend, doesn't mean it can't still happen ...

Saturday Spotlight Series #18
Spotlight on: Last Minute Mother's Day ideas

                                      

What is the best Mother's Day gift that you ever gave or received?

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