MOTHER'S DAY 2018 - The IN SEASON Lifestyle

These were our thoughts right before Mother’s Day 2018:

MAY IS ALWAYS FULL OF FUN

Funny how some things always remind us of other things. When the Kentucky Derby has been run; I always know it is time to get ready for Mother’s Day. Since my favorite horse lost BIG this year, I’m hoping to halt this trend with a wonderful Mother’s Day celebration. A few of these beginning thoughts resemble last year (after all it is a repeated annual event); so bear with me until we get caught up here.

Since I’ve raised four kids and now have three grandchildren, you might think it strange that I would even be concerned about preparing for this day. After all; isn’t this day all about me?

IT ISN’T ALL ABOUT ME

Funny you should ask. On this Mother’s Day 2018 I’m at that “in-between” age. I’m in-between taking care of my own Mother and helping my grown children with the grandchildren.

The truth of the matter is; though the day is special for me in MANY ways; it definitely ISN’T all about me! I’m one of a house full of Mother’s in the family.

When your grown children marry; they also have mother-in-laws to tend to on Mother’s Day.

In our case; though I raised our kids in our home; their father (my husband) and their birth-mother divorced when they all were very young. So, they all have their birth-mother to think of too.

Two of my daughters are now mother’s themselves; they need a little Mom-time with their own children on Mother’s Day 2018.

Then there is the fact that I’m very blessed to still have my own Mom with me. She is the pretty lady in the photo.

KEEPING THE OPEN DOOR POLICY

So you are getting the picture of how things may go at my house on Mother’s Day 2018. You can understand that the day is a bit hard to coordinate here.

I usually solve that problem by focusing on my own Mom and entertaining her at our home while exercising the open-door policy. Whoever can come over, whenever they can schedule it, on that same day is welcome.

READY FOR A HOUSE FULL OF PEOPLE

This means I usually prepare to have drop-in guests and unexpected surprises at any of the three meals of the day. So, I get prepared for that possibility. I don’t always use all three meal plans; but I try to have a plan in place just in case it is needed. That plan has to be one that will accommodate either a large or small amount of people (depending on who shows up when.)

If you want to see how I managed to do this last year; you can click this link: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/cake-tree/. There is no photo contest being held this year; so make a note of that if you read the older link.

Usually, for all the above reasons, my main goal on Mother’s Day is simply to be flexible. I usually try to have a stocked pantry, a pretty, clean house with easy-quick-to-fix food, and a big smile on my face. If it works out where I don’t use half of the things I have on hand; no problem. My husband and I enjoy whatever is left over during the rest of the week.

PLANNING FOR LUNCH ON MOTHER’S DAY 2018

I invite my own Mom over for lunch. On that day I try to prepare things that can be made ahead, kept refrigerated, and pulled out when needed. I love finger-foods, salads, and sandwiches that are easy to pull out and arrange in pretty dishes.

Usually, I like to prepare enough for lunch to last through two meals. This is just in case everyone else comes straggling in whenever they can. I keep a few extra desserts on hand with lots of coffee, wine, tea and soft-drinks. It always works out somehow. We all manage to enjoy the day because I keep this open-door/drop-in-whenever you want mentality going on.

Nevertheless; it always means I get to plan for an uncertain amount of guests. I actually enjoy the mystery of it all. I’m always hoping for extra surprise people whom I didn’t even anticipate to show up.

A SPECIAL TREAT IS EXPECTED THIS YEAR

This year is extra special because we really DO get some extra company. My cousin from Georgia is bringing my one of my favorite uncles to join in with us. I’m so happy they decided to come spend the day with us. This fact has turned out to be a great surprise in the middle of the usual festive mix. My Mom is delighted to know that we all will get to have lunch together at our house. It will be great fun. We don’t get a chance to see them very often.

So, this week I’m busy working on a simple, yet cheerful decorating scheme. I’m planning easy-to-prepare menus. Last year I had time to do a lot of cooking. It all turned out lovely. However, this year my goal is to keep things simpler; because the time I have for preparing things is much less. Still, I’m hoping for it all to be lovely, elegant, and tasty. The trick is to have a few favorite short-cuts up your sleeve. I do have a few of those planned. I’ll tell you about them as we go along.

PLANNING FOR EASE AND SIMPLICITY

I have a few favorite places to get easy-to-prepare foods. Most of that easy preparation means simply pulling it out of the pantry or refrigerator. I hope I have your full attention now. LOL.

One of my favorite haunts is Edgar’s Bakery. I especially like them for Mother’s Day surprises. Their cakes are lovely. I’m having visions of a “Southern Lady” cake this year. All the pink and white icing will add a splash of color to our table.

Actually, I’m going to request that they use deep purple instead of pink icing this time. I’ll do that because my decorating theme includes some bright yellows mixed with some deep purples. I love these vivid colors for the color theme. There is already a lot of spring yellows going on in the main parts of the house;. So, all I’ll have to do is use a splash of deep purple here and there.

Again, the goal is to keep everything easy, simple and uncomplicated. I’ll try to post photos in The House Doctor column of the blog later. If you love changing your decor to match your seasonal themes; I do have photos from last year’s Mother’s Day celebrations. That was the year when we had a blast with the color pink. Check it out, but remember that was last year; so please don’t enter any of the contests I might have mentioned: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/miracles-and-metamorphasis/.

PLAN FOR THE FOOD

Getting back to this year’s food plan: my dear uncle LOVES ice cream. I’ll get a few different flavors that will go well with the pretty Mother’s Day cake.

Otherwise; I’m thinking a fruit tray, a vegetable tray with dips and chips, a mixed sandwich tray, and a fresh tossed salad on the kitchen table. Simple, elegant, easy. Everyone can help themselves to whatever they want.

For the sandwiches; I love to use chicken salad from The Chicken Salad Chicks. I’ll go there and load up on a mix of their chicken salads. The flavors they offer are terrific. Everyone always loves their food. I hope you have one of their stores in your part of town. I don’t know how we ever survived without them before. They are the greatest! Just google them. Their history is an interesting read.

So; guess what?

No heavy cooking on my part after all.

Just a lovely little colorful feast of light snacks which most everyone will enjoy, including cake and ice cream for dessert. This amount of simplicity will leave us more time to talk and enjoy our visits. I’m SO looking forward to that part of the day.

MOTHER’S DAY GIFT IDEAS

As I mentioned previously; last year we really went all out with the house décor.

Everything was pink!!!

It turned out lovely too.

I filled The IN SEASON Lifestyle family tree up with black and white photos of the Moms in our family. I gave them to my Mom as a gift in the end of the day. It was a great idea. I recommend this if you are looking for something unusual to add to your celebration.

PHOTOS ARE FUN

A funny story about that gift is that she called me up at work only a few days ago and said “I was cleaning up papers in my attic and found all these black and white photos that are amazing! I just can’t remember where they all came from or when I got them.”

I got to remind her that I made them for her on Mother’s Day last year and that they were all the Mother’s in our family as they were going about their days of being Moms. She remembered it all then, and I could tell it was a sweet memory. I also reminded her that one of my daughters had given her the pretty hat-box styled photo boxes which now contained those photos.

Now she remembers and she says how much she just loves having all those candid photos in her possession. They have been fun for her to look at and she has been going through them all week. She lost another dear friend this week. The photos have helped to cheer her up. Our conversation reminded me that you never know what the simplest little thing is going to mean for someone else, or how it will intersect with someone else’s destiny. I loved pondering this memory again this year over the phone with Mom.

USING THE FAMILY TREE FOR MOTHER’S DAY 2018

I will post The IN SEASON Family Tree photos for this year some time soon. I’ll be leaving the May Family Tree up all through the month of May.

Our theme – butterflies!

Mom’s represent the possibility of new life. I think butterflies are definitely appropriate. Of course, most of them are going to be deep purple in color.

This year I’m going to make Mom a pretty gift basket filled with some of her favorite books, magazines, and movies. I’ll include some sweets and treats to enjoy while she indulges in reading all of them. Also, I’ll add some prints of photos of our family with her in the park recently on Resurrection Day. They are such sweet photos. I know she will love having those memories of a perfect day.

NO STRESSING THIS YEAR

What about you?

Are you stressing over ideas for good Mother’s Day gifts? Here is a link to an article that we posted last year which shared some really unique Mother’s Day gift ideas; some of them are not very expensive and all of them are lovely and thoughtful: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/mothers-day-gifts/.

Are you looking for a menu and some good recipes to prepare yourself? Check out this post: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/seasons-menu-mothers-day-luncheon/