Written on April 30, 2006 10:39 PM
by Nancy Flynn
Despite having what seems to me to be one of the most challenging and important jobs there is, most mothers don’t get a yearly cost-of-living raise or bonus. That’s where Mother’s Day comes in—the perfect time to give the mothers in your life a well-deserved pat on the back. While a trip to Paris or a long weekend at Canyon Ranch would be ideal, there are plenty of creative and crafty ways to celebrate the hardest working women in your life-- your mother, mother-in-law, and girlfriends with young children.
Film Festival!
Invite your mother over for an afternoon or evening film festival—you can suit the line-up to her particular tastes. Just a few suggestions:
Anglophile Afternoon Tea
Make a batch of scones, pick up some lemon curd or clotted cream, brew up some English Breakfast and curl up to watch some BBC favorites:
*Pride & Prejudice (the long version will take a whole day)
*Persuasion
*The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
*Jane Eyre
*The Buccaneers (yes, Edith Wharton is American, but it still works)
Weepy Evening
If you like to bond with your mother while shedding a tear, pull out the tissue box, a pint of ice cream and these classics:
*Steel Magnolias
*Terms of Endearment
*Fried Green Tomatoes
*The Notebook (ok, its new, but still good, romantic and just sad enough)
Spa Day
Parcel up some bath salts, a bottle of pretty nail polish, moisturizing lotion and some cotton gloves and socks with a ribbon. Get together, soak and buff your hands and feet, moisturize, then put on the socks and gloves to let it sink in while you watch these make-over movies:
*Pretty Woman
*My Fair Lady
*Sabrina (you can never have too much Audrey)
*Never Been Kissed
New Mothers
From my very unofficial survey of mothers of young children, the most valuable gift you can give them is time—either to spend by themselves or with their partner. A few ideas:
*Idle Afternoon- Give your girlfriend a gift certificate to a local coffee shop, a fun magazine, and a certificate for a few hours of babysitting, courtesy of you, to be redeemed whenever she needs a little break.
*Date Night- A gift certificate for two movie tickets at a local theater, a bottle of wine, and the offer of an evening of expert babysitting can let your friend have a much-appreciated evening of romance with her sweetie.
*Dinner’s On Me- Buy or thrift an oven-safe dish and make your favorite one-dish supper, freeze it and present it to the mother-of-choice with a bagged salad, small jar of homemade dressing and re-heating instructions. She will be able to enjoy a home-cooked dinner with minimal effort. Be sure to include the recipe too, in case she’d like to make it again!
Mothers At A Distance
Of course we all don’t live near our favorite moms—both my mother and mother-in-law live across the country—so below are some ideas for mail-worthy crafty gifts.
*If she enjoys entertaining, send a matched set of fabric placemats and napkins in her favorite color scheme. These can be made with minimal sewing skills and are easily hand-sewn if you do not have a machine:
Placemats:
*Cut a piece of fabric 18x13 inches
*Turn long sides under ¼ inch and iron, then turn under another ¼ inch, iron again, then pin.
*Sew along the inner edge, then repeat on the short sides. You’re done!
Napkins:
*Cut a piece of fabric 12x12
*Repeat instructions for placemat to hem napkins
* If she likes a restful afternoon, send an afternoon tea in a box—include your favorite tea, cookies (they sell English digestives in some markets), and a book—if she enjoys Jane Austen, perhaps she would like Barbara Pym, or Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series, or my personal favorite, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
*For those who like green, growing things, send a selection of seeds or bulbs. If the backbreaking work of planting may be a bit much, call a lawn center in her area to see if you can make an appointment for someone to come by and plant them for her. If you are planning a visit, include a gift certificate for your own gardening services.
When we were children, the best gifts were those we put our hearts into—the painstakingly made clay bowl from art class, or the card we labored over to make every letter perfect. Even now you will likely find that the gifts mothers will most treasure are those that bear evidence of our time, creativity and concentrated thought about what they enjoy. Hopefully this column is a good jumping-off point for your Mother’s Day celebrations! Please do share your favorite Mother’s Day ideas in the comments—or if you are a mom, your thoughts about what your loved ones could do, or have done, to celebrate you.
Nancy Flynn is a dilettante crafter living in San Francisco with her fiance. This year she gave her mother a handmade totebag for Mother's Day.
