Typical Mother's Day Gift Baskets: $20 - 100, But a Kid's Homemade Offerings? Priceless!

Well, I read something that confirmed that Mother's Day is not a Hallmark invention - good. You probably all saw the articles and blogs about how a tradition of honouring she who gave us life began long ago, at least as far back as ancient Greece, when the mother of all the gods in the pantheon, Rhea, was honoured every spring with honey cakes (I LOVE Greek pastries), wine, and flowers. Sounds good to me.

As a child, I never really celebrated Mother's Day - it was a North American phenomenon to our immigrant mentality.

But now that I have kids - look out! Book the day at the spa, or better yet, the weekend. Unfortunately, our fiances are not what they used to be so a back rub by my seven year old spot of sunshine, my son Ben, will have to do and you know what, it's better!

Seriously, when little children try to symbolize their messages of love and/or appreciation as they do on mom's birthday or Mother's Day, the results are often poignantly sweet, sometimes awkwardly drawn or constructed, sometimes wildly original.

One of the best gifts I got from my son was homemade jewelry - get this, he glued a large "pearl" onto a colourful seashell, then looped it on a long string and, presto, I had a pearl necklace. I wore it everyday until the pearl fell out.

My daughter has given me the most amazing things - her original poetry and art. She gave me one of her diaries (for lack of any money), she had decorated it with flowers and wrote on the cover:
"This book now belongs to (full name) the best mom ever!"

On the inside, she had inscribed:

Thank you Mom, for being there when I need you,
For giving me a hug when I am blue
So, all I have to say
Happy Mother's Day.

OK, so its not Shakespeare or even Hallmark but I cherish it and the book, which I am still using as a journal.

But lets face it, women all love chocolate, flowers, gourmet snacks, fancy nuts, buttery rich cookies, and a VARIETY of stuff to nibble on during the one day of luxurious doing-nothing-for-anyone-else day. And, thankfully, I know their dad, my husband of 20 years, will add a generously loaded Mother's Day gift basket.

Mother's Day Gift Baskets make excellent long distance gifts because they arrive on time and any nagging Mom was going to give you will be muffled by her chewing in your ear as she thanks you for all the goodies. Being pampered means having an array of stuff in a basket, just for you! So Moms, drop some hints as to what you want, but consider that the stuff in the baskets lasts for upto a week or two, and that the basket remains as a useful and decorative reminder of the goodies and the delightfully relaxing day, which, lets face it, isnt a drop in the bucket compared to what moms do and how much they give. Hey, I have an idea, lets make Mother's Day once a month! What do you say, ladies, since Father's Day seems to come once a week!