Mother's Day

I'm part of a freelancing website that pays small amounts of money for articles written on a large variety of subjects. I'm posting an article that I wrote under the heading "How to be sentimental on Mother's Day without being cheesy" because I thought that it's relevant. The title of that category made me laugh because I think it's almost impossible to be sentimental without being cheesy, but that's pretty much what I wrote about, so read it for yourself : ).

"Can we define what "cheesy" means? Does cheesy mean the gift is over the top or oozing sentiment? Wouldn't that make the entire idea of Mother's Day cheesy?

A long time ago I spent an entire day drawing a picture for my mom. It wasn't one of those perfectly painted portraits that some budding artists manage to create for their mothers. No, I possess no artistic talent, not an ounce. For this project I gathered my crayons and colored paper and drew flowers, hearts, and whatever else I could accomplish with my favorite strawberry-red crayon. The card said something along the lines of "Dear Mom, you're great and you do lots of stuff. Thanks, I love you!" Is that cheesy? Yes, probably.

Not quite so long ago I tried to create a watercolor mother's day card in art class. Turns out that I used too much water so my picture smeared together. Since class was almost over I quickly turned the smear into an abstract work that Picasso himself would be very proud of. To make up for the cover, I wrote a decently long note inside that basically said the same thing all my cards said, "Mom, you've always been there for me. I love you." Would this be considered cheesy? Yep.

Last year, in true teenage form, I waited until the absolute last minute. My mom had to work evening shift during Mother's Day, which meant that she wouldn't get home until around midnight. I really wanted to do something for her so I consulted my trusty sidekick (Google) and began to print out random poems about mothers, inspirational maternal quotes, and a short segment from Little Women about mothers. I meticulously cleaned the kitchen (one of Mom's number one pet peeves is returning home to a dirty kitchen) and arranged the printed pages on the counter. This didn't look very snazzy, as you could imagine, so I added some candles. It still lacked something...ah, chocolate! I sorted through my desk drawers until I found the perfect piece of Guiradelli, added a few slices of apples (as I now think about the healthy factor) and viola! Mother's Day surprise! So was that random? Yes. Cheesy? Most definitely.

If the scale of cheesiness runs by measurements of cliched one-liners and sappy notes, then I've definitely failed as a daughter, I'm about as cheesy as an enchilada. However, whoever decided cheesy was bad? Perhaps people we love need to hear the cheesy stuff every now and then, no matter what you might think. Everyone needs to know that their work is appreciated and means something. Who works harder than our mothers? Shouldn't they deserve the same recognition?

So this Mother's Day, forget trying to avoid the "cheesy" gift ideas. Don't bypass Hallmark because all the cards are cliched. Don't skimp out altogether because you can't think of an idea that's not "good enough." Here's a cheesy thought for you, all gifts are great if they're given from the heart!

..and if this still doesn't help, chocolate is always good!"

Happy Mother's Day!