FOR MANY FAMILIES, Mother’s Day will look different this year.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, families can’t demonstrate their love for Mom or Grandma with the classic Mother’s Day brunch or family get-together. Instead, social distancing guidelines may force families to be creative when celebrating the mothers, grandmothers and maternal figures in their lives.
Fortunately, there are many low-cost, socially distant ways to celebrate Mother’s Day, which takes place on May 10 this year. Consider prioritizing sentimental gifts, which are mementos that remind your mom of your relationship, wrote Jeff Galak, associate professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, in an email.
“People get hung up on spending lots of money on gifts, thinking that is what recipients (want),” Galak says. “In fact, there is no evidence that expensive gifts are any better than inexpensive ones. If anything, gifts that foster sentimental value are the gifts that are not only best liked, but are the ones that strengthen relationships.”
If you can’t give a physical gift because, say, your mother is apprehensive about handling mail these days, there are low-cost, non-tactile Mother’s Day gift options, too.
Read on for frugal ideas for celebrating Mother’s Day:
- Throw a parade.
- Give a handmade Mother’s Day card.
- Write a note with sidewalk chalk.
- Give her a break.
- Schedule a video call.
- Cook a meal.
Throw a Parade
Demonstrate how thankful you are for your mother or grandmother by staging a socially distant parade, suggests Mary Beth Charles, the Maryland-based founder of parenting blog A Reluctant Mom.
Make sure Mom is sitting on her porch or at the window at a certain time on Mother’s Day. Next, gather your siblings, children and other family members, and stage a drive-by parade during which you display handmade signs from your car, fly streamers out the window and shout your greetings to Mom. Remember to follow the rules of social distancing and remain in your car with the members of your household.
If you don’t own a car, designate an hour during which you’ll walk by Mom’s house and greet her from the sidewalk with signs and well wishes. Again, be careful to follow your state’s or city’s distancing guidelines.
Give a Handmade Mother’s Day Card
This classic, frugal Mother’s Day gift doesn’t need reinvention this year, Charles says. Instead of paying for an expensive card, make homemade cards for Mom.
Kids may adorn the cards with drawings and stickers while adults can take a moment to write a heartfelt note. During the coronavirus pandemic, many moms are pulling double duty, including homeschooling, entertaining the kids and completing other tasks that often fall disproportionately to wives and mothers. Sit down and let her know how much you appreciate the work she does as a parent.
Write a Note With Sidewalk Chalk
This Mother’s Day idea works well if you’re celebrating a mother or grandmother who lives close by and may not want to accept a physical gift, due to fear of the novel coronavirus, Charles says.
Grab your sidewalk chalk and decorate her driveway, sidewalk or steps with pictures and messages of love. She’ll be able to appreciate the designs after you’ve left.
Give Her a Break
Being a mom is a 24-hour job, and that’s especially true during the coronavirus pandemic when moms are often taking on additional child care responsibilities while dealing with economic uncertainty, a lack of outside help and other virus-fueled challenges.
The frugal gift she may be craving most is an afternoon off. Take the kids to the backyard, the park (if it’s open) or on a drive and give Mom a few hours to decompress, read a book, take a bubble bath or watch a favorite show. This no-cost gift can help her recharge and relax.
Schedule a Video Call
If your mother and grandmother aren’t nearby, schedule a video call on a digital tool such as FaceTime, Google Hangouts or Zoom. You can log on with your siblings or take some time to chat one-on-one. Express your gratitude for everything she does and take an hour to catch up.
Cook a Meal
So maybe you can’t go to a restaurant for Mother’s Day brunch, but you can definitely host one at home.
A low-cost way to show your love is to cook Mom a meal. If your kids are old enough, get them in on the action. Aim to conceive of and execute the meal from start to finish, meaning that you look up the recipe, buy the ingredients and fry up the meal without asking Mom to spend any mental or physical energy on the task.
Baking a cake or making cookies is a thoughtful gift, too. But cooking a meal doesn’t just demonstrate your love – it can take a daily chore off her hands and get the kids out of her hair for an hour.