Mother's Day and new extended families!

Stansgran - i hope something arrived.

Any 'special' cards (Christmas, birthday, Mothers' Day, etc) from 'special' people I keep, along with postcards I receive, tickets to shows, trips, airline tickets, photos, invitations, etc and other little bits of memorabilia I think worth keeping. I pin them all to a pin board in the kitchen.

Each NewYears Eve I take them all down, have a little trip down memory lane then put them into a shoe box and label it with the year. Then up to the attic it goes.

Most of the cards (if not all of them) that I get from my children are usually art or nature cards "blank inside for own message" with exactly that written in. What more could I wish for.

rg that is a great idea.

Great idea rockgran. I have a box of treasures that includes cards the children either made, or sent to me on special occasions. A journal would take up less space (an increasingly significant issue here)

Rock gran what a good idea. I will use old birthday cards as sadly nothing has arrived in the post. If nothing ie flowers arrives tomorrow I will buy a decent bunch of reduced ones from the supermarket and pretend

I always make my mother's day or birthday card into a notebook that I use for planning the garden, shopping or similar. That I way I can enjoy it for a lot longer. Just staple in a few sheet of paper and trim.

I think that a lot of mothers day cards are too sugar sweet.
I always imagine that it is quite difficult to find cards for those mother/daughter relationships that are not all sugar.

I can't agree with that absent. There are some lovely cards available. I have had some beautiful ones over the years. I always leave mine out for ages. Seems a shame to put them away.

That's a sweeping generalisation absent

Of course the cards that children and grandchildren make, as well as the poems and messages they write, are delightful and massively special. It's the commercial rubbish with its trite verses – at silly prices moreover – that is tacky.

Maybe children are capable of more things that you think)

It's not my word JaneA just quoting an earlier post. I don't think that either, they were treasured.

I've still got that cards that my kids made for me, albeit being the ones that they did actually make...some are obviously ones that the teacher has helped them with [not quite the same].

I don't think cards that children have made themselves could be described as tacky.
Tacky to me means false sentimentality - something a child would not understand or be capable of.

We can all take what we want to take from 'days' such as Valentines Day, Mothers' Day even Christmas and Easter. Yes, there is a degree of hype in the shops and advertising on the TV but as we're thinking, intelligent people it's up to us to celebrate these occasions or give them a miss.

I do find it wearing that some people see only the negative though as if we are obliged to buy into all the publicity. I loved the 'tacky' cards the children made at school and presented to me with great pride on Mothering Sunday. I still enjoy the bought cards they give me each year and the occasion for a family get together.

Does anyone buy their daughters or daughters in law a Mothers' Day Card.

I was surprised to hear that you can buy such cards! I will buy flowers for my DILs but I don't have any daughters.

I agree that mothers' day has gone OTT but then so has everything else, especially Christmas.

I often text a friend or two "Happy Mothers' Day" especially the ones from school gate days because we share that bond of being friends when our kids were little

Out for breakfast with DP and DS. Then late afternoon, for the first time in years we are going out for lunch. DD usually cooks but she deserves a day off too. I will meet up with DS and all the DGC while DP travels to visit his mum. have asked for no chocolate as given up for lent . I have asked for a fish for my new tank instead!

Happy holidays! Wish to all mothers only happiness!

grannyknot The "mother as martyr" is a less than complimentary, though often well-deserved description of particularly controlling and debilitating kinds of mothers so I merely speculated that comparisons with early Christian martyrs might not appeal to those who were not unduly concerned about cards, presents, and which mother of which partner got the longest visit etc. Equally, some might find an equivalence of those who died, often excruciatingly painfully for their beliefs, with someone who didn't want a lot of fuss about Mothering Sunday a bit OTT.

Jus because a card is chosen with love doesn't prevent it from being tacky. Have you looked at any of the current offerings?

I have a thread on a similar subject about fighting in families over days such as mothers day.

My greatest wish for Mothers' Day would be to see my 3 sons reconciled after a massive falling out two and a half years ago when my DH died.

I will see the 2 who are still friends on the same day, but the youngest son is holding a massive grudge against his two brothers - so sad. They were all good friends until their dad died.

I will keep hoping

Mothers' Day can be a sad time for some if you've lost a child, be it recently or almost a lifetime ago. I know a few people in this sad position and I that there are some on GN.

to you all x

Years ago I helped out a friend who needed some waitressing doing on Mothers Day where I waited on all the mums that had been taken out to lunch, only to get home and everyone to ask what was for dinner . And another year my ex took the children out for the day and gave me a pot of paint to decorate the bedroom [must point out that I loved decorating back then and it was nice to have a chance to do some without the kids being under my feet]. I'd hate to have a fuss made of me on mothers day, although I did cry a lot one year when I thought my son had forgotten to send me a card. One year, when he was away at uni, he got his dad to bring me a bunch of flowers; I thought that was very sweet. I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to things like this, as I give such an impression of not wanting any fuss and then expect them to se through my bravado .

I usually get a card from each of my DC, and sometimes flowers or chocolates. As they both live over 200 miles away - in opposite directions - I never actually see them on the day, and so I appreciate their thoughtfulness. I wouldn't be upset if nothing arrived, but I am touched and pleased if they remember.