Eight Best Mother's Day Activities

Perhaps the traditional Mother's Day is breakfast in bed or brunch at a nice restaurant, but those don't need to be the only choices for a Mother's Day tradition. Consider the following ideas, that is of course, if it's what the mom in your life wants to do on her special day:

1. Take time, real time, to get out scrapbooks and photo books and look over old memories with mom. This is a simple thing, but most people don't take time to do it with their own family. Don't wait until you are all alone to relive happy family memories.

2. Write a letter. Write letters to your own kids about what it's like to be a parent and what they have brought to you. Save these letters for your kids to read later when they are parents.

3. Create a Mom's Day memory jar. Each year, have everyone write a favorite family memory and put in the jar to give to mom.

4. Use Mother's Day as a day to give back. Not all moms want flowers or expensive food. Yours might prefer that the family is together doing something for the community.

5. Have a mom's party. Who said Mothers Day has to be about just one mom. Make a real party out of it and invite lots of moms. Read poetry about moms. Celebrate the mothers in your life.

6. Interview your kids on video and have them say what they love about their moms. As much as a mothers day gift, any chance to record little kids is a gift to the future.

7. Take a walk or go on a picnic. If your mom or spouse loves the outdoors, this is a lower cost alternative to a restaurant meal, and the May weather is usually perfect for it.

8. Take her out the weekend before, to dinner, the theatre, or to the movies. There will be fewer people, lower prices, and you'll all enjoy yourselves more without the feeling of "should do" event that sometimes clouds "Hallmark style" holidays.

Mother's Day celebrates that glorious ideal of love and sacrifice called motherhood. Dad should explain the significance of this day to the kids, and enroll their efforts into making this a day for mom to remember.