What a word! What a concept! What a job! Mother can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adjective. The female parent of a child or children is a mother. A mother can be a leader of a religious group, or even a term used to designate an elder or senior woman. To mother is to nurture, to invent, to originate.  

The word mother has many uses and meanings. Like the word, mothers are not all alike. Some are round and soft, others are straight and firm, some delight and some disappoint. Still, your mother is your mother at seven or seventy. The mother child relationship has staying power like no other. She is yours and you are hers, forever.

Mother’s Day is a time for showing your appreciation for all the effort your mom put into you. Taking care of you when you were sick, cleaning up after you, keeping your clothes clean and a million little things that helped get you to where you are today; So, what is the perfect Mother’s Day gift?

TIME. 

For the mother of young children, it might be free time. An hour or an afternoon free from the responsibility of childcare. Time for a soak in the tub or to read a book. 

For the mother of a teen it might be time in the form of a shared activity. It could be as simple as working on a puzzle together or watching a movie (no devices in hand) and a little conversation about the movie at the conclusion.

For the mother of an adult child it might be a lunch, FaceTime call or walk with her child. A few minutes or even a couple of hours of just you and your mom.

For the mother of an older child, if you are sixty that probably means mom is in her eighties, how about some time for help? Give advance notice and ask for a list of little jobs or things that are annoying you could fix. Has her computer stopped talking? Does the TV speak the wrong language or have annoying closed captions that just appeared on their own? Has there been an invasion of ants? Are there weeds? What needs time?

For the mother who lives far away take time to write a thank you note to your mom. What do you remember? What do you do now that you learned from her? 

TIME, TIME, TIME, … just a little time is what most moms really want for Mother’s Day.

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