Want to Know What Mom Really Wants This Mother’s Day?

Kids: This one’s for you. (Well, with a few filters here and there.)

Forget cards and carnations. You want to know what your mom really wants this Mother’s Day?

She wants YOU to do everything she does for you. Just this one day. This means when you wake up, you get to tip-toe into her room (before even brushing your teeth or washing your face), gently pull up the shades, kiss her on the cheek, let her sleep a little longer while you go downstairs and fix her breakfast, pack her lunch, feed the dog, wash the dishes, put them away, walk the dog, take a shower, get dressed, then wake her up and help make sure she has everything in her purse that she needs for the day.

After begging her to bring her dishes to the sink, she can help you take out the trash. After asking twice to brush her teeth, you can drop her off at work appointments. (On Mother’s Day, this might mean, oh I don’t know, brunch with the girls followed by a spa pedicure? Just saying.)

While she is out, you can write a term paper, take four important phone calls with your teachers while folding laundry, cleaning dog poop, mowing the lawn and trying to fit in a jog around the house (or an intense work-out at the school gym) before she gets home. Then you can help her with business proposals while preparing a homemade dinner before dropping her off at another appointment, where you get to stay and chat with other kids about their mothers’ business.

On the ride home, you can listen to her favorite songs on the radio over and over again.

When you get home, you can ask her to help set the table, serve dinner for the entire family, proofread her business proposals, check email, ask her to clean up the kitchen and play hoops as a family before it gets too dark. Don’t forget to make sure she takes a shower, brushes her teeth, reads a book and is in bed by 9 p.m.  

The next day, you can sleep in and be a kid again. But she will do this again and again and again. Why? Because she loves you. And she wouldn’t change what she does for you for anything in the world.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Jackie Hennessey blogs at www.ventingsessions.com and is the author of How to Spread Sanity on a Cracker, available at Hollies on the Avenue gift shop. Jackie will co-host a special book signing event at Hollies on May 17 from 7 to 9 p.m. with mommy friend and local jewelry designer, Diane Stratton Ballou.