As this coming Sunday, May 9, is Mother’s Day, you might want to think about ways in which you can make it special for a mother.

Being a working carer may mean you are caring fulltime or contributing to the care of someone in your life who is a mother. It might be your wife, mother, mother-in-law, daughter, grandmother, sister or even a dear friend.

Perhaps you have not had the time to give much thought to how you will celebrate Mother’s Day and make it special for them.

Rather than falling for the advertising hype and buying expensive presents, you could challenge yourself with finding an inexpensive yet thoughtful and loving way to say ‘thanks’ to that woman and to honour that very special relationship.

Work ‘n’ Care has gone through all the best Mother’s Day ideas on the simplesavings.com website and compiled a selection of simple yet effective ways to show your appreciation for the important role a mother plays.

Our carer interview with Roland Rocchiccioli elsewhere in this issue also features a very special story about the mother-child relationship, so be sure to read it.

An affordable way to create a family treasure

This year, we will celebrate our first Mother's and Father's days in our very young family. For the price of one fancy card, I bought two nice notebooks from a discount store. One notebook has been labelled 'MUM', the other 'DAD'. When he is old enough, our son (and any other kids that may come along!) will write a message in the notebook, along with the year. The notebooks will be something to treasure forever and a great way to see the progress of our children as they grow up. Best of all, it will save us the cost of cards for years to come.

This simple idea would work equally well no matter what the age of the children – even if they are older adults.

Bookmark with hand print

My two-year-old made a gorgeous bookmark for me for Mother's Day (with the help of her daycare centre). It was her handprint on a piece of cardboard which had been laminated and decorated with a piece of ribbon. I will treasure it forever.

Don’t reject this touching idea just because you are an adult. The mother in YOUR life might appreciate just as much (perhaps even more) a handprint from her adult child.

Collage of family photos

Get together 5-10 good photos of your mum and family and cut them into different shapes and place them on a coloured piece of cardboard and buy a do-it-yourself picture frame to the size you require. Decorate the frame and place your new ‘photo’ inside it. She will love it as it and it will be special because it has a bit of everyone in it and it was made by you.

Fill box with recipes, poems and inspiring stories

Make a box of love for her. Cover a shoe box with decorative paper and fill it with envelopes containing recipes, poems, vouchers, things to do, inspirational stories from magazines, personal notes, etc. Let her know that when she is bored or feeling down she can select an envelope and have a lovely surprise every time.

Frame name poem

Make a poem using the first letters of your mother's name. There are many of these available on the internet (just do a Google search for name poems). Or you can write your own personal poem. Then print it onto a piece of pretty paper (available from places like GoLo, Crazy Clints and the like for very little cost) and then either have it laminated (about $2.00) or find a cheap but nice frame to put it in. Using the frame, it would cost around $10; using the laminated way would probably cost about $5.00.

From the heart

A visit and the words ‘I love you’.

Give booklets of vouchers

Make up little booklets of vouchers and decorate with ribbon, stickers, etc. The vouchers could be anything from washing the dishes, cleaning the car, vacuuming, hanging out washing, setting the table, etc. My kids used to make these booklets for me when they were younger and I cherished them. For older people vouchers could be a foot massage, a trip to the movies, making a favourite meal, a manicure or pedicure, brushing their hair and so on.

Home-made slice in jars

I have found it is really nice to go through your old magazines and find a fantastic sweet recipe, such as a slice or rum balls and so on, and make up a big batch. Then you can buy containers (one time I bought a set of three decorative cardboard boxes and some tissue paper from the $2 shop) or jars (these can be bought at a store such as Clints for around $5.00) which can be reused, and put these sweets into them. 



Name certificate

A present for older mums who seem to have everything can be a name certificate. The certificates tell the meaning of a surname or Christian name and cost less very little. You can do a Google search to find the meaning of a name and then pick the parts that best reflect your mum’s personality. Type it up, put it in a nice border and frame or laminate.

Place mats featuring family photos

Use coloured card and decorate with photos of family members, pets, etc. Organise photos on card before gluing. Decorative borders can be added using shiny paper cut into a pattern, or stickers. A special message for Mum can also be added. Laminate.

Special gestures more important than presents

Teach your kids by being a great role model. Gifts are a token of appreciation. So, teach them how to make a cup of tea, how to cook, clean and take care of themselves. On Mother's Day, ask them to show you how much they have learned from you rather than from the advertisers. 

This year my daughter (8) brought me a cup of tea in bed and then climbed in with me for a cuddle. She still wanted to buy me some flowers and chocolate but I made sure she knew that the cuppa and cuddle in bed were the gifts I treasured most. 

Teach them well, reinforce with your own behaviour and it will be Mother's Day, every day.