Mother’s Day is coming up soon, and for some people there is added pressure to make sure that they give Mom something nice. This can be tough if you haven’t room in your budget!

Mother’s Day is special for almost everyone. It’s the time when we want to shower Mom with gifts and attention to prove how much we care that she has taken care of us growing up. For most people this means flowers and a meal out (those who are grown up already). For the kids it means trying to buy Mom a special gift and making breakfast in bed. I recently heard an advertisement that I despise; it suggests that if you don’t buy Mom flowers, she will make your life miserable (or worse). I suppose that might get some people to buy, but I would never buy from that place!

And you don’t have to buy flowers to make Mom happy….

Imagine giving a very special gift for Mother’s Day – one that costs very little in cash, and that your mom will appreciate even more than flowers. How could there be such a thing? Is there such a thing? Of course there is! Our most precious commodity is time. How would you mother like you to spend your time with her? Are there some special activities that she would enjoy doing with you? Or is there some special thing that you can do for you mother, something that she would really like done, but may have difficulty doing? Could you help her to cut down on the time she spends working on her home? Maybe you could come in and clean her house for her as a Mother’s Day present… Include cooking all the meals that day. Yes, that is a big time commitment. But think about how much that would be appreciated!

Are there some other things that your mother would really appreciate? Last year for my nana’s birthday I had my kids each make a little scrap book with pictures of the kids in them (one book for each kid with that kid’s pictures). They decorated and drew inside the books, and then sealed them in ribbons for presentation. My nana was more thrilled with these little books, which cost about $3.00 each to make, than she was with any of the expensive presents she got that year! It took a lot of time to make the books, granted. But it was more than worth that time to see how happy Nana was. Would your mom or grandmother appreciate something like that? Be creative and think of all the interesting and wonderful things you can do to make this Mother’s Day special (and unusual) without spending a fortune.

Hey, and post some of those ideas here for others to see, too!

Happy Mother’s Day!