Celebrating Mothers Day: The Gift of Life, Memories and Other Stuff

People have been celebrating motherhood since the beginning of time (almost). Ancient societies actually celebrated Goddesses or symbols of motherhood. The Egyptians celebrated their Goddess Isis, and the Romans had their Goddess Cybele, just to name a few. In America It wasn't until around 1870 that someone, namely Julia Ward Howe, came up with the brilliant idea of commemorating "real mothers" and celebrating motherhood. And rightly so. After all "real mothers" are Goddesses in their own right.

How we celebrate our mothers and motherhood of course is usually dictated by our family traditions. In our modern day societies (and ancient) gift giving is the norm. Hence, following are some thoughtful gift giving ideas. May I say first, though, "No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift to you - life". I'm not sure who wrote this, but I thought it fitting.

Almost from the moment of conception their "little bundles of joy" wreaked havoc with their bodies, to include the following: nausea, stretching, nausea, stretching, nausea, stretching (not necessarily in that order) and on and on, their belly's swelling and expanding like one big, ginormous balloon, ready to burst at any moment.This goes on and on and on for months on end (approximately nine). Just when their bodies adjust to their little appendages, YIKES!!!!!!!! their little "bundles of joy" decide it's time to greet the world. (I can speak for all mothers since I am a mother.)

Okay, back to the gift giving. By far the best gift of all (besides giving life) is taking your mother out to some fancy (or her favorite) eating establishment. It may cost you a pretty penny, (unless of course you have brothers and sisters that will split the bill with you) but it's well worth the effort, since you won't have to slave in the kitchen cooking and preparing her favorite delicacies. And to top it off, you won't have to wash the dishes.

Next on the list, and my all time favorite, is any and all spa treatments including a facial, massage, manicure, pedicure, or any and all non-invasive treatments such as Botox, Restylane, Juvederm or Sculptra, perhaps a chemical peel, vascular lasers or an eye-lift. After all your mother is still a Goddess and needs to look like one too, and most importantly, she gave you the greatest gift of all, life.

For those of you on a budget, believe me I know the feeling, presenting your mother with a simple bouquet of flowers and a special card would suffice. And if you have to, she would love it if you prepared her favorite meal and did the dishes too.

Most importantly, celebrating Mother's Day is about creating beautiful, fabulous, grand memories. The incredible meals eaten will eventually go to our/her hips and the bouquets of flowers will have to be tossed all too soon. Of course if you opted to give your mother the gift of Botox, Restylane or similar treatments, that may last up to one year before a touch-up is needed, (next years Mother's day gift).

Oh, sweet memories, what can I say about them? They are what causes you to smile as your driving down the road remembering your first crush on the boy who sat next to you in first grade, or the butterfly's you get in your tummy reminiscing about the time you went down the Free Fall at Magic Mountain or picturing your grandchild's first steps, first words, the first time they ran up and hugged you and called out "my Grandma". Oscar Wilde nailed it on the head with "memory...is the diary we all carry with us". Memories last a lifetime.

To all mothers out there.....have a grand day!!!!!!