Celebrating Mother's Day on a Budget

The modern Mother's Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis as a day for each family to honor its mother, and it's now celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Fathers Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

This holiday is relatively modern, being created at the start of the 20th century, and should not be confused with the early pagan and christian traditions honouring mothers, or with the 16th century celebration of Mothering Sunday which is also known as Mother's Day in the UK.

In North America Mothers Day has become “big business” and has lost some of its meaning. The celebration of Mothers is the celebration of the hardest job in the world….Mothers!

Here are some suggestions for making Mothers Day a bit more meaningful without breaking the bank. The key to a great Mothers Day is letting Mom have some quality time to herself as well as time with the family. Showing Mom that you have everything under control will give her peace of mind to relax and enjoy, quiet is not really necessary although outings with the kids can help.

1) Kids love to do “big people” jobs. Have the kids help with the laundry, loading the washer and dryer. Folding the clothes ( doesn’t really matter that they will have to be ironed later!). This will give Mom a break for a while and allow the kids to see that putting away their clothes can save on laundry time for Mom.

2) Take the kids to the supermarket for the weekly shopping. This will give Mom time alone ( ohhhh, that sounds so good?). Let the older ones read the list and the younger ones load the cart. The little ones can put the unbreakable items in the cart while you navigate around. Let each child pick one of Mom’s favorite foods to bring home for her.

3) After the supermarket sit the kids down to help you make lunch for Mom. You can find a chore for each according to age. From folding napkins to setting the table, filling a pot with water to mixing the salad, each child will feel useful and Mom with feel the love.

Don’t forget the tried and true gifts for Mom, light candles around the bath, run a warm bath with music lightly playing in the background. Mom will enjoy a nice relaxing soak with a glass of wine.

Make some coupons redeemable for future services such as grocery shopping, walking the dog and car pooling.

Straighten up and clean the house before Mom gets home.
Have the kids make cards and gifts. This is especially wonderful for keepsakes. Mom will love her unique and one of a kind Mothers Day gifts.