Taking the Kids: What moms and grandmas really want for Mother's Day
Flowers are nice, so is a fancy brunch, a heartfelt card and a box of chocolates. But ask busy moms what they really want for Mother’s Day, and they will tell you they’d prefer a little time for themselves – sleeping late, time for a leisurely bath or at the gym.
“Last Mother’s Day I had a newborn and a toddler, and my husband got me a massage and a facial as a gift and it was wonderful,” said Shari Foldes, who lives in Florida.
But for her mom, Marcia Foldes — and other grandparents like her who live far from their children and grandchildren— what they want most is the chance to spend time with the kids.
“Any time I can spend with my busy adult kids is great,” said Marcia Foldes, who lives in St. Louis. “And that goes for the ‘grands’ too. Often when we’re visiting Florida or Chicago, we babysit the kids so the parents can have a night out. It’s fun for everyone and provides time to count our blessings.”
“I do wish we could spend more time together,” said Sue Tober, who lives in New Hampshire and has a granddaughter in New York. “It’s always special but it doesn’t happen often enough.”
One easy solution: Take a page from Marcia Foldes’ book and give grandmas the gift of togetherness at the same time gifting moms a little time for themselves.
It doesn’t need to be Mother’s Day weekend either — any convenient time works. Melissa Miller, who lives in Boise, Idaho, gifts her mom Pam Miller plane tickets to come from Houston to visit Melissa, her husband, and 2-year-old daughter.
In case you are wondering, a woman named Anna Jarvis started Mother’s Day. On May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service for her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis, at her Grafton, West Virginia, church as a way to honor the sacrifices mothers make for their children.
It became an official U.S. holiday in 1914, but Jarvis wasn’t happy. She would denounce how commercial Mother’s Day had become and spent a good many years trying to remove it from the calendar. Today, Americans spend $2.9 billion on Mother’s Day flowers. That makes it the third most lucrative holiday for florists after Valentine’s Day and Christmas Yahoo!Money reports.
All the more reason to reconsider Mother’s Day gifts this year. For grandmas, orchestrate some time together with the grandkids — planting flowers or a visit to a botanical garden for the grandma who loves flowers. Perhaps a cookbook with recipes she could cook with the grandkids when they are together. For the grandma with older grandchildren, tickets for something they all would enjoy – a baseball game, a theater performance, a visit to a museum. Give grandma a chance to share a passion with her grandchildren. Perhaps a National Parks pass (a Senior Pass is just $20; $80 for a lifetime pass that will admit four adults and children under 16). Perhaps a cooking class designed for families.
...continued
(c) 2023 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
