Mother’s day savings

What’s made Mother’s Day into the shopping institution it is today is a smart marketing campaign by a greeting card company and some creative retailers.

I’ve already put in my bid for what I want for Mother’s Day. My daughter has a lovely voice and I’ve asked for a CD of her singing. And my son… well, I just want him to wear his hair curly for a week! Will I get what I want? I dunno. But they better not spend any money!

Ultimately, buying something – a card and a box of chocolates, a bunch of flowers, a sumthin’-or ’nother, is sometimes easier than taking the time to figure out what your mom would truly love. Maybe it’s a home-cooked meal she won’t have to cook. Or it could be a spring clean-up of the garden. Maybe an offer of a foot or back rub with a nice cup of tea and a couple of hours chat and laughter.

Instead of being with the people we love, taking time to show them how much we do appreciate them, we substitute something we can buy as a token of our love. Often the something is the same something everyone else uses – the standard gifts. Moms everywhere smile and say, “Thank you honey, isn’t that sweet? Look Dad, isn’t that so sweet?” or “You didn’t have to do that.” And they’re right. You didn’t.

We sometimes spend money to avoid giving the only thing our Moms really want from us: time. It doesn’t matter if your Mom lives around the corner and you see her every second day, or across the world and you only see her once in a blue moon, if you find a way to give her some of your time, it’ll mean more to her than all the calories in that box of chocolate.

You’re a good kid. You love your Mommy. So now all you have to do is figure out something that will truly make her happy and demonstrate just how much you think of her. Hey, you don’t have to spend a penny to do that.