A single mom's guide to surviving Mother’s Day
Let's face it...Mother's Day isn't a big picnic for a lot of single moms. What do you do when you don't have a partner to take the kids to buy you some little gift, or pick up flowers or bring you breakfast in bed? As you know, my philosophy is, sometimes you gotta make your own holiday. Here are my best tips to not only survive, but enjoy this day made to celebrate you.
Make plans for at least one meal
Meet up with other moms, with your mom, with friends or family. If you can’t do this, plan to cook something fun and festive that you enjoy.
Don’t set your expectations too high
You’re still their mom, and they still need you. That 3 hour nap in a hammock is probably out of the question.
Stay off social media
Isn’t it sweet how Melissa’s husband bought her flowers and took her to dinner and also bought her a Land Rover as a beautiful way of saying thank you for giving birth to his children? Sure, sure whatever. But you don’t need to see any of that nonsense today. Turn it off.
Give the kids some ideas
Let your kids know little stuff they can do for you, if they want to. I'll never forget the year that Cash looked up at me and asked, kind of nervously, "So um...what am I supposed to do for Mother's Day?" He wanted to make sure he was doing his job to make sure I felt special. He loves to make me coffee in the Keurig or help me out in the kitchen. Another thing he loves to do is let me pick whatever we watch on TV that day (all his idea, and yes, we watch Gilmore Girls). He knows how much I love flowers, so last year, he asked if he could get me some. I dropped him off at the entrance of Publix and stayed in the car stalker style while he walked in by himself, picked out a bunch of flowers for me, paid for them, and brought them back to me in the car. Sweetest thing EVER. Give your munchkins a little guidance and I promise you'll be touched by whatever they come up with.
Do something low-stress that you love
Go to the nursery and let your kids pick out a cool plant for you. Find a fun movie to watch. Go swimming or hiking or to a cool museum. You know I’m a big fan of dance parties in the kitchen. Let any small messes wait, and please don’t do any laundry.
Set all the clocks forward an hour, put everyone to bed early, and watch a show on Netflix that says bad words like "shut up" and "crap" and don't worry about whether the kids are going to walk in. I'm only half kidding here.
Bottom line: Enjoy the day with your kids.
You’re one lucky mama to get to call those bundles of hot mess your own, and you don’t need expensive presents or another adult human to remind you of that. Happy Mother’s Day, rockstar!