Organize a quiet day together, having afternoon tea at the house and talking. Go for a walk in a nearby park and spend the evening watching family movies, or movies your mother likes. Go through old picture books. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Gather photos, old family video, or other trinkets and go through them together. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you could edit a family video compilation for her and have the premiere. Go for a walk around an exciting part of town your mother doesn’t often visit and show her around, or go on a long hike, bike trip, or run together if your mother is the adventurous type. Take your mother to church, or to visit other relatives she may not get the chance to see often. Whatever you do, just arrange to spend the day–all day–together.
First make sure she is asleep so she will be surprise when she wakes up. Start in your room to make sure you get that all the way done while you have time. Take your clothes to the laundry and tidy up your belongings, putting things in the right place. Then, move to the living room and other areas to finish as much as you can before your mom sees. If you don’t have time to do a serious cleaning, just organizing books, straightening pillows, and picking up can look great. Dishes, garbage, and dealing with recycling are all added bonus steps. Clean up the kitchen, then wipe down the counter tops to give them a little sparkle. If you get the chance, finish by running the vacuum. You’ll be the favorite of the siblings.
Mowing the lawn is a classic, though it might be more of a favor for dad, depending on how the chores are split up around your house. Depending on the season, raking leaves, shoveling snow, and trimming any bushes around the house can also be a great way of letting your parents take it easy and making the house look great.
Plan a simple meal that you can prepare ahead of time and get it ready. Set the table and prepare everything for the evening, so your mother won’t need to scramble when surprise guests arrive. Let her talk and visit with them, and take care of the other stuff yourself. Prepare a thoughtful toast before the dinner, as tribute to your mom, if the occasion is right. You’ll bring the house down. If a big dinner with friends and family would stress your mom out, go for the simple. Show up with a pizza, six pack of beers, and Tremors 2 on VHS. Have a goofy quiet evening hanging out and joking around, just the two of you.
Get some nice cardstock that you can fold into a greeting card and decorate it with drawings and funny pictures for added flair. She’ll love it. Alternatively, hang little notes all around the house, in places where she’ll be sure to notice. Make each one a separate “thank you” for something she does every day that goes unnoticed.
Weave a simple bracelet or necklace, or get more complicated with crocheting or knitting, if you’re feeling ambitious. Collect a bunch of drawings that you’ve made and bind them into a book. Dedicate it to her and give her the one and only copy. Go for a walk and collect flowers, then present her with a bouquet of pretty greenery for the table.
The trick to pulling off the breakfast in bed is going simple. It’s probably not a good idea to try eggs Benedict, which is difficult and messy to eat, and it takes a long time to make. Try running out for some fancy pastries the night before and hiding them, so you can surprise mom in bed with coffee and croissants. Even making some cinnamon toast or making up a fruit salad can be a great breakfast.
Secret tip: try to get in touch with her old friends, like college roommates, or childhood neighbors. Find out what she always used to talk about doing when she was a young adult. try to find out what she wanted to see, do, and be. Use that to figure out a big surprising gift for her. Use dad for info. Presumably, he should be listening to mom the most. try to figure out what she’s interested in lately and keep him from spilling the beans.
If you want to keep things cheap, you can usually pick between the services offered. If she’s been stressed lately, a massage might be in order. If she loves getting her hair and nails done, go for the beauty treatment.
Your mom’s not a flower fan? Try signing her up for Birch Box, to get an assortment of hand creams, lotions, and other new products delivered in sample-sizes for her to try.
If the idea of three forks and a Broadway show makes your mother cringe, change up the pace. Take her to a juke joint for happy hour, order some wings, then hit up the dollar theatre for a midnight screening of Rocky Horror. Make her feel young.
Alternatively, it might be a good idea to set your mom up with scrapbooking supplies of her own if she enjoys little projects. Hook her up with pages, books, pictures, and other supplies and let her organize her own.
Alternatively, it might be a good idea to set your mom up with scrapbooking supplies of her own if she enjoys little projects. Hook her up with pages, books, pictures, and other supplies and let her organize her own.
Make sure a project like this fits in with your mother’s actual desires for her house and the yard. You might want to organize and price the project, offer to pay for it, and set things up for a consultation, without actually going through with an expensive landscaping project she might be unhappy with.
Alternatively, pool the money up with your siblings and get your dad in on the scheme as well. Organize a solo trip for you mom, to a place she’s always wanted to go, and send her solo to have some quality time by herself.
