Scratch and Sniff 

Mother’s Day is tomorrow, and if sitcoms have taught me anything, most of you are doing your gift shopping today. We’ve been doing this for twenty some years, more or less, but every year it’s exactly the same. You think we would have a better grasp of the situation at this point. Maybe next year. Quit procrastinating, read on, and the get to the store.

At the younger ages it was a bit easier. Usually you made some, um, ok we’ll call it art, in school. Some macaroni spay painted and glued to something, a faux watercolor painting of a flower, some thing made from clay and poorly painted. It didn’t matter what it was, or even what it was supposed to be, you had the best intentions, and your mom loved, or at least acted like she did not to hurt your feelings.

When you did purchase gifts at the younger age someone had to take you shopping, a dad, or grandma, or some other relative. The nice thing about this was that they would usually help you out with your gift idea. At the very least they would let you know that the grill set with the pink handles was not the best idea. Dodged a bullet on that one.

As you got older you became more independent and you started doing the shopping on your own. At first you’d buy her some kitschy useless item, like a ceramic figurine from Precious Moments. Sure it was adorable, and she liked it, but just what exactly was she going to do with it? Or you would be under the impression that all girls like teddy bears. So you would get her one of those. She’s a grown woman, what does she need with a teddy bear?

Once you got past that point, you came up with the same ideas that you come up with today: Maybe something for the bath? Or how about some jewelry? Flowers? What about something for the bath? Jewelry? Flowers sound nice. It’s this same song and dance as you wonder the stores.

So now you’re in the bath and body shop looking at a basket of decorative soap, comparing it to the different bubble baths. Smelling the lotions and perfumes. Wondering what exactly body cream is for, and if it tastes as good as it smells (it doesn’t.) You’re nose is over whelmed and you leave that store, and head for some jewelry.

Jewelry is has become easier with age, but the first few times are no cakewalk. You have a million things to consider. First, should you get a necklace, or earrings, or a ring, or a broach? Really a broach? Once you decided on that you have to figure out weather your mom would prefer silver or gold. If gold, white gold or yellow gold? Would she like diamonds? Can you afford diamonds? What about pearls? The questions get to be too much and you quickly decide on flowers.

Flowers are always an easy choice. There are only two criteria to look for: that they look nice and that they smell nice. Since that is basically every flower you can’t go wrong. If you know her favorite then you got that going for ya, which is nice. It’s such a simple gesture, but moms love flowers.

After finally making a decision on the gift, it was time to pick out the card. Again this was better when you were young. You took a piece of construction paper, folded it, drew a picture (no one could even tell what it was), and wrote something completely simple like, “Happy Mother’s Day. I love you Mom. Love, Lee.” And that card ended up on the mantle for weeks. Now you have to sift through cards that are overly sentimental, filled with cheesy rhymes, or contain the worst puns ever. You never buy a good one; you buy the least awful one.

In addition to whatever gift and card you pick, just be sure that you take some time not just tomorrow, but every day to let you mom, grandma, sister, any special lady in your life just how truly special she is, how much she is appreciated, and how much you love her.

She deserves it.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Lee.s.hart@crujonessociety.com