Make your mom feel special this Mother’s Day… even if you’re far away

As Mother’s Day is approaching, all of us are suddenly starting to think about our mothers and the tremendous impact they have on us.

Whether we realise it or not, our mothers help us through life every day; whether it is with something small like making breakfast or something life-changing like helping us through emotional crises.

On Mother’s Day we get the chance to pay tribute to our every-day heroines, and celebrate a day dedicated to the women who make our world a better place.

For most of us Mother’s Day is a chance to spend some quality time with mom, or an opportunity to spoil your mom with breakfast in bed, or a small gift to show her you care. Sometimes though, life takes us in a different direction, and we might find ourselves away from our moms over Mother’s Day.

Whether you are in a hostel or a boarding house, or studying away from home; whether you work in a different town or you’re on a field trip away from your parents, here are a few ideas on how to make your mom’s day a little bit more special this Mother’s Day:

Send her a letter!   

This one might be a little tricky to pull off, since you have to time it perfectly. Phone the post office a couple of weeks in advance to find out how long the letter would take to reach your mom. If you’re not sure how long it would take you can also send your letter through a courier service. If you know someone close to your mom (like a neighbour or a friend), you can also make sure to write the letter in advance and ask your friend to deliver the letter personally on Mother’s Day

Have some flowers delivered to her.

Most florists do deliveries, so phone a couple of weeks in advance to make sure they will be open or delivering on Mother’s Day. It’s as easy as that! To make your gift extra special, try to find out what your mom’s favourite flowers are before you place the order.

Arrange for a surprise meeting.

Make a few phone calls, beg, borrow or steal, and get a few friends or family members to help you pull off the perfect surprise. If you’re away on a school trip try to arrange with your dad to take your mom out for the day, and meet them there. If you work away from home and you have your own car, make a trip to your mom. There is no better Mother’s Day gift than having your child with you.

Call in reinforcements!

This is an easy one since it doesn’t entail much time, effort or money. Just buy your mom something small (flowers, jewellery, chocolates or a teddy bear) and ask a friend or family member to deliver it to her, and voilà, the perfect surprise.

Give your mom a framed photo of the two of you.

You can even have fun with this, and send her on a scavenger hunt to find her own gift. Start off by getting the photo framed a few weeks before Mother’s Day and hide it somewhere in your mom’s house where she will not be able to find it before the time. Then write a few clues and letters and hide them (with some small surprises) all over the house (also where she can’t get hold of them before Mother’s Day). Give your dad the first letter or clue and ask him to give it to her early morning on Mother’s Day, so she can start her scavenger hunt.

GO BIG!!!

Most local and national radio stations take requests. So if you cannot be with your mom on Mother’s Day, why not play her, her favourite song. First find the contact details of your local station, call them and leave a message with your mom’s favourite song. Send your mom an SMS and tell her to turn on the radio at the time your message is scheduled to play. Remember to ask your dad to make sure there are enough tissues in the house, because mom will definitely be crying as she is listening to the song.

Since it is Mother’s Day (and I am also one of the children who cannot be with my mom over Mother’s Day), I would like to send a message to my mother this year:

Moeder, al is ons ‘n paar uur se ry van mekaar af, weet ek mammie is altyd by my. Ek is besonders lief vir moeder. Wens ek kon daar wees! Liefde F.C.

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