Mother's Day From Abroad
My mom is a fantastic, devoted mother; she’s my best friend, and one of my biggest role models. She is hilarious, stylish, creative, caring and sensitive (all qualities I like to mention so I can then humble brag about having inherited). She is witty and always the life of the party, and I actually just straight up like her as a human. If I met her out in the real world I would want to be her friend, and I think that’s pretty damn sweet.
Another thing about this lady is that she’s best gift giver and incredibly generous, and she instilled this attitude in me without even realizing. It’s important for her to make everyone else feel wonderful on their big days. I see how happy she makes her friends, her family, myself - and since a very young age I internalized this behaviour. I learned to enjoy being the person making a kind, loving gesture to those that mattered. I wanted to be able to give back, and she was one of my first victims. The gesture? Making her pancakes on Mother’s Day. I particularly recall this day. I had a family friend teach me how to make them the week before. For that Sunday, I was so nervous to mess up that I set the alarm at 5 am to start preparing said breakfast. Unfortunately, I didn’t nearly mess up as much as I though I would, and had a whole batch of pancakes, orange juice and fruit served by quarter to six. I did feel bad about the fact that it was too early for just a little bit. But the pride of my achievement blinded me with excitement and realizing that the pancakes were cooling down rearranged my priorities, so of course I woke my parents up and brought it to their bed. I mean who needs sleep anyway? As an adult I now know the best gift I could have given her was rest, I want to cry at the thought of a child waking me up on a Sunday at 5:45 am. But motherhood is rough I’ve heard.
The one bummer in this whole love story is that my mom and I now live about 3000 miles away. Gladly we live in a time where distance is shorted significantly by the blessings of technology, and we still pretty much live attached at the hip. But then special days come around, and not being able to be there is not great. Still, we always make sure to be there for each other on these big days. So to celebrate the woman I love the most, I’m going to share my top tried and tested ideas on how to pamper your mommas across the world. I mean, you gotta figure out something to make up for not being able to wake her up with cold pancakes before the sun even rises.
Send flowers, it’s a simple but powerful gesture. Many florists take online orders and though it typically requires a little planning ahead, you may be able to score a nice arrangement the day of. If she has a favourite kind of flower go for it. If not, carnations are said to be the traditional flower to gift on Mother’s Day, but it’s also the perfect season for some tulips, and you can never go wrong with light coloured roses or a beautiful orchid.
Have her favourite dessert delivered. This surprise is a lovely treat. Call up her favourite bakery or pastry shop and check for delivery options. If nothing is available it’s also okay to enlist a local. I had my best friend do this for me once, picking up the dessert and dropping it off at our place. Needless to say my mom thought it was the sweetest, pun intended.
Leave a gift hidden in the house. This is an option for whenever you get a chance to go home next. For her first birthday since I moved to Canada, I left notes and gifts hidden throughout the house in places I knew she would never check. Then, on the day of I had her find them one by one. Keeping the secret of the gift can be rough, but it’s worth it.
Have an activity skype date. I absolutely love doing this! We’re big on talking on the phone, so sometimes weeks or even months go by without sitting down in front of the screen and actually seeing each other. It’s crazy because we could be speaking daily but then getting to chat face-to-face is always exciting. Set a date, grab a glass of wine, and get up to something you’ve both been meaning to do. It can be your own version of paint night, book club, or DIYing. We once made terrariums together and let me tell you wine and cacti don’t necessarily mix but it was cute and hilarious.
Book a spa for her. You know she deserves a little time off. Major spas offer gift cards and you can make sure to send one her way. Have her book the massage for herself or wait for the next time you’re in town to go together: win-win.
Send her this little article about famous women talking about their moms and add your own contribution.
Just call and say you love her. It matters.
To all the great moms out there happy mother’s day, you rock. And to my mom: te amo mami! Feliz día de la madre!