For many moms May 14 will begin at the crack of dawn in a house strewn with construction paper from card and decoration making, a sink full of dishes from failed breakfast attempts and more noise than any mother could possibly sleep through. And it will end with warm kisses and hugs from adoring children who, at least for the day, wanted so much to make mom happy. Here are just a few of the Mother’s Day memories and traditions submitted by Valley Parent readers:
A special one that stands out for me was in 2000. My own father had just died and we were in the process of adopting my daughter from Russia. My stepson James, whose own Mom had died when he was six years old, had been calling me “Miss Kim” for three years. He was now 12. (His father and I married when he was 9 and I had no chil dren). He was so excited and in a little boy’s way, quite “giddy” to tell me that his gift was that he had decided to call me “Mom.” And then he gave me the biggest hug ever!
Assuming that the baby would pick up his habits when we got her, James said, “It wouldn’t be right for the baby to call you ‘Miss Kim!’” Of course, I was thrilled and I told him that it was the best gift I could ever have gotten for Mother’s Day! He is now an 18-year-old senior at Brookstone, and he has been an awesome son. I will always remember how excited he was to officially call me his Mom!
Kim Eason Rozycki
A very fond memory for me was the tradi tion of wearing roses on Mother’s Day — a red rose if your mother was still alive and a white rose if she had died. I loved going with Daddy down to the rose bushes and picking four red roses for each of us to wear to church that morning.
Nina Elmore
I remember as a child waking up on Mother’s Day to show my mom what I got her or, in my later college (broke) days, made her. I remember it was never really about the gift that I got her, although she appreciated each year’s gift, but it was more about spending time with everyone as a family and being thankful to be able to wake up every day with the family that I had.
Adam Owens
When my brother, sister and I were around the ages of 8, 9 and 11, we would make a soggy buttered toast breakfast for our mother, and (the best part) order her some beautiful flowers from the florist. Of course we were charging them to her account because that’s what she would do. Little did we know she was the one paying for those flowers! She never said anything except how beautiful they were and how thoughtful we were.
Tibi Westbrook
