All of us sons and daughters have differing Mother’s Day experiences, whether they include a traditional breakfast-in-bed process, showering Mum with expensive gifts or a quick stop at the local service station for a bouquet of flowers on the day.
If you’re a little stuck for inspiration or feeling curious about how others celebrate Mother’s Day, we sat down with Gemma and Dave, our content specialists, to share what Mother’s Day means for them.
Gemma: A Dedicated Daughter Tells Her Story
Mother’s Day has always been special to me, from a very young age I have felt strong gratitude towards my mother for everything she does. I have always been very fortunate to have a close relationship with my mum, as the one person in my life I can always turn to with any problem. I try my hardest to express love and thankfulness towards my mum every single day although I ensure that every Mother’s Day I make an extra special effort to show her just how much I care.
Of course, when I was a young child, I hardly had thousands in the bank to splash out and whisk my mother away on a relaxing getaway. There was a tradition between myself and my two older sisters where we would wake up early, prepare a special breakfast and deliver it to our beloved mum in bed before she awoke – I’m not entirely sure how tasty this breakfast would have been considering our lack of cooking expertise. Our grandparents usually took care of the financial side of things and picked up a nice Mother’s Day card, present and gave it to us to deliver to our mum.
Now I’m older, wiser and all grown up Mother’s Day is usually the perfect excuse to spend quality time. Usually, my gift to my mum is more activity based which allows me to spend some time with her. I live around four hours away from my old home, so needless to say I don’t see my mum as much as I used to or I would like.
Similarly to many other doting children out there, Mother’s Day should be a reminder to meet up and spend that all-important family time with the woman who gave us life. How do you even repay someone for that?
Dave: What Mother’s Day Means to a Sympathetic Son
For some, Mother’s Day can come across like a last-minute inconvenience – the obligation to get a card, flowers and perhaps a small gift to give as a token of your love seemingly cheapened by the overt capitalism at play, which has similarly undermined the purity of Valentine’s Day, too.
But that doesn’t have to be the case. While it’s easy to let the rest of life distract you enough for the occasion to seem like somewhat of a burden, it can be a wonderful excuse to celebrate one of the – if not the single – most important woman in your life. Perhaps more guilty of this than daughters, sons should be just as proactive and enthusiastic about celebrating our mothers and, truthfully speaking, a card, some flowers and maybe a box of chocolates is hardly too much to ask for somebody who has spent dedicated their life to bringing you up and providing truly unconditional love.
There are few bonds deeper than that of a mother and child, and while as grown men we may fail to acknowledge the impact they’ve had on our lives as much as we ought to – perhaps more out of ignorance than anything sinister – the fact remains that their influence, guidance, care and attention is what allowed us to be shaped in to the men we are today, and without them, our lives and experiences would be significantly cheapened. This shouldn’t be a day that we choose to ‘fight the man’ because allowing your mother to feel loved, appreciated and of the utmost importance is far, far more valuable than any of that.
So, this year, rather than allowing Mother’s Day to slide down your list of priorities, or leaving everything until last minute and allowing yourself to get frustrated by the event, put your mother first – it is the very least you could do.
So, how are you planning on showing gratitude and love to your mum this Mother’s Day?
