If there are 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, there must be at least 50 ways to love your mother for Valentine’s Day. We are partial to ways with words.
We’re going to start you off with ten word-based suggestions, and then we invite you to add your own “ways to love your mother” for Valentine’s Day. It’s not necessary to stick to words and books. Maybe you’ll want to add ideas for sports moms or writing moms, poetry moms or tea moms.
And, if your idea really captures us, we might include it in an article over at Huffington Post.
10 Ways to Love Your Mother for Valentine’s Day
1. Everything That Makes You Mom. You won’t have time to fill this up before Valentine’s Day, but you could very well give it to your mother along with a promise to do it together over the phone or lunch for a while, as a way to connect. Watch for the orange poncho and the pancake frisbees.
2. Every Day Poems. What better way to love your mother than to give her the gift of beautiful, thoughtful, or amusing poetry, right in her inbox? And you needn’t stop there. You can discuss the poems together for a great way to enliven your relationship.
3. Jealous Poem Stacks. Forget what your mom told you about not being jealous of others. Get jealous for words, and make her some fun poem stacks, pulling from books on birds, gems and minerals, or flowers. You could send the stacks along with that sci-fi chocolate you’ve been meaning to get her.
4. Spin: Taking Your Creativity to the Nth Degree. Set mom spinning towards a more creative life. You could work on the question sections together and maybe recall some stories of your own that parallel the topics like ritual, being a kid again, and talking to strangers (yes, she told you not to do this; now you’ll show her it isn’t all bad).
5. Hans Christian Andersen, Complete Fairy Tales. Fairy tales are for grownups too. Sometimes we forget that. Take mom back to the time when you read these classic stories together, and help her recapture the delight of the colorful bedtime story. Or, if you missed out on this experience as a child (and mom did too), why not read the tales together for the first time?
6. Love You Forever. Make her cry. Why not? You probably did that countless times over the years. And we promise this will be a good cry. Love You Forever is a children’s book that’s really a grown-up’s story, as we watch a young boy grow and eventually care for his own mom. “I love you forever, I love you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby [my mommy] you’ll be.” (Bet you can’t get through it either without a needing a tissue.)
7. Sophie’s Masterpiece: A Spider’s Tale. Make her cry again. (You’re on a roll.) This is a beautifully-told story that follows the aging spider Sophie (don’t worry, she’s a pretty arachnid) and her quest to give beautiful things to people—ending with a final masterpiece gift to a lonely new mother. The pictures are gorgeous, the sentiment deep.
8. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. After numbers 6 and 7 above, mom is probably going to need this. Take her on a hilarious (and sometimes irreverent) adventure with Bill Bryson. She will know he’s doing a lot wrong just by the traveling companion he chooses (and may feel satisfied that she taught you better—about how to select your friends and hiking compatriots, as well as your hiking food supplies).
9. Tea With Jane Austen. Maybe your mom was the first to introduce you to the wit of Jane Austen. It’s your turn to be the first to introduce her to tea with Jane. This book is a fascinating look at the world of tea in Austen’s time. Includes quotes from Austen novels and recipes you may wish your mother had made.
10. The Faraway Nearby. A memoir of apricots, mirrors, and a mother descending into dementia. Okay, it’s probably not best to give this one to her for Valentine’s Day. But if you’re trying to work through troubled memories of mom (or deal with a challenging care-giving situation), this might be just the book to keep for yourself. That’s allowed.
Photo by Ayca Wilson, Creative Commons, via Flickr.
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Need a poem on a topic Mom loves? Check out our wide collection of poems on subjects from cake to camels, laundry to Barbies.
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Sandra Heska King says
My mom would have loved a handmade valentine with an original poem–preferably funny. She’d also have loved a box of word magnets. Why didn’t I think of that while I still had her?
L.L. Barkat says
There is something to be done with this. I don’t know what it is, exactly. But I sense it. See what comes?
Sandra Heska King says
You’re always challenging me…
Sandra Wirfel says
#3 I gave my Mom over 100 of the Stack poems I wrote in 2014.
#9 We share Tea, all the time and since my daughter just finished reading Pride and Predjudice, my Mom and I had a discussion about Jane Austin and great writers.
#10 The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit. Since this year I pledged to read Memoirs, this seems like a good book for me to read and then loan to my mother, we share books all the time.
The book “The Pocket Muse” By Monica Wood, and a copy for me, so we can write and compare.
My mother is a big advocate for Child Abuse Prevention in April, every year she begins a project in January and I pick the project up the end of March and distribute the project from all over my town promoting Child Abuse Prevention for her, since her severe social anxiety prevents her from getting out of the house.
I have distributed little blue pinwheel pins, big blue pinwheels, blue bracelets, ornaments made out of old CD disks, blue stocking caps, and last year I distributed about 300 green pompom bears holding little blue pinwheels.
I have learned to be a better daughter. I used to try to push her to get out more, until I learned more about the mental illness, now I encourage her to do things in her home that keep her stress free.
I am fortunate 13 years ago she moved from NJ to Pa, to be closer to me and my husband, in case we were to both be deployed in support of the war, so we would have family around to take care of our children. That was before the mental illness took over.
My Mom lives five miles down the road, and she is my greatest writing supporter. She can critique my writing without making me feel bad about myself or my writing. She gave me my love of reading and poetry and for that I will always be thankful.
When my first children’s book “The Happy Cow” was published I made sure to give her a copy of the book immediately, and I am now waiting for my publisher copy of my second published children’s book called “Pocketman”, to arrive in my mailboc to give her a copy, which was available on Amazon as of 1 January, what a way to start the new year.
But I guess the best thing I can do for my Mother, is let her know how much I love her, which I do by having tea with her as much as possible.
L.L. Barkat says
So many wonderful things, Sandra. I am particularly intrigued by the Pocket Muse 🙂 Going to look that one up.
Sandra Wirfel says
There are so many awesome writing ideas in it. The pictures are great, also.
Laura Brown says
What a great list. Thanks for including my mombook.
Sophie the Spider is new to me. You have to love a spider who gets dressed for work.
My mom is long gone, but I know a lot of moms, some of whom have mothered me. I think some of them deserve some custom jealous poem stacks.
L.L. Barkat says
Oh, Sophie.
This is a book to have, just because.
Really, I have a thing for beautiful children’s books with excellent stories 🙂
Laura Brown says
Likewise. And good illustrations. Years ago I volunteered at an elementary school library, and on the days I logged new books, my productivity sometimes slowed …
Maureen Doallas says
“The More We Get Together: The Sexual and Spiritual Language of Love” by Robert McDowell ~ Not just for lovers! And the cover is beautiful.
But if that title seems too racy (it’s really about communication), consider McDowell’s “Poetry as Spiritual Practice: Reading, Writing, and Using Poetry in Your Daily Rituals, Aspirations, and Intentions”.
L.L. Barkat says
Always happy to hear about new titles. And I know you have especially good taste in books 🙂
Megan Willome says
I have my mother’s Hans Christian Andersen and her Grimm Fair Tales from 1945. Those were my two most-read books as a child.
Bethany Rohde says
I think I might have to get two copies of Tea With Jane Austen to read through with my mom. We both adore Jane and tea parties. Maybe I’ll add a box of Strawberry-Rose Black Tea from our local shop, Attic Secrets.
Richard Maxson says
There is a book out now called “Still Here Thinking of You: A Second Chance With Our Mothers” by Susan Hodara and Vicki Addesso. It seems more focused toward women whose relationship with their mother had not weathered adulthood. This is the mention on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/prud2d8 :
“Months after forming a writers group, four women from very different backgrounds found themselves unexpectedly writing about their mothers. In the process, not only did their understanding of one another deepen, but their perceptions of their mothers were transformed. With humor, tenderness, pain, and sorrow, Still Here Thinking of You taps into that universal pulse that never stops beating: the bond between mother and daughter.”
SimplyDarlene says
#6 might make the mother cry, but I guarantee it’ll freak out the daughter-in-law, and the mother’s son — especially when given as a gift to the newlyweds.
SimplyDarlene says
son, here are some ways to love your country-girl mother:
* don’t try to prepare a meal with your father – bring home take-out and set the table with paper plates
* take the assorted small game pelts out of the freezer – sooner than later
* remove sticks and rocks and fencing staples from jacket & overall pockets before throwing clothing in laundry room
* take the pile of sticks and rocks and fencing staples outside before the pile gets tall enough to topple over
🙂
Callie Feyen says
I was inspired by this post (as I always am when I come to Tweetspeak). Here’s my contribution: http://www.calliefeyen.com/?p=3103
JoyAnne O'Donnell says
Fifty Ways To Love Your Mom: Valentines Day Poem
A kiss
when I miss
my mom’s sweet smile
A give her the warmest hug
so snug
for valentines day!
Giving mom candy
to be handy
to tell her how sweet she is and dandy
give my mom a lasting gift
is the highest throne lift
to tell her how much you love her
cherish every minute
I show my mom she is a star
born right out of the sky
beating and beaming
great pink, red rays
of valentines days
I always give my mom a rose
to show her she is the greatest times pose
scented with heart
scented with soul
time with mom the best
so bright
no darkness can fright
the love for my mother
Making a valentine card
filled with prose
to mom written by me
a poem maybe this one
to read to give
to share love’s kindest word
for mom on god’s mantle
I light this candle
with Saint Valentine.