Mother’s Day is coming!

For all you dads out there — time to haul your kids out and pick up something for mom.

I am thinking something sparkly, or maybe a gift certificate for a massage, or is she the pedicure type? Flowers? Or maybe a gift card to pick out something fabulous for herself.

But truly, when it comes down to it, if all you can get to is putting some paper in front of your little ones and writing “Happy Mother’s Day” and letting her sleep in while you cook breakfast on Sunday — that works, too!

Mother’s Day sneaked up on me this year. However, since my mom arrives for a visit a mere four days after Mother’s Day, I get a little reprieve — we will celebrate when she gets here because having my kids hand her gifts and drawings in person is so much better than sending them.

I am not the type of mom who lets holidays go unnoticed in my house. I remind everyone of my birthday beforehand (not that my husband is the type to forget, mainly because his is a week after mine). But Mother’s Day? We ARE busy, so I did as normal and started issuing not-so-subtle hints this past weekend.

I know moms out there who don’t mention the big days and then sulk later when they are forgotten about. That’s not me. My reasoning is that not only would I be disappointed (and I don’t like to be disappointed), but I also would be slighting my little ones an opportunity to celebrate and create something for me.

My kids love any reason to celebrate and I love seeing them beam while I ooh and aah over their drawings and creations. Not to mention that one of the goals in raising my kids is that they learn to recognize the special days for the people in their lives — example, I don’t want my son to eventually be “the husband that never remembered”.

My husband picked up the kids from daycare early the other day and braved Artsy Fartsy by himself with the two kids in tow. (I took the kids individually for painting Christmas gifts this year — he is brave to take them both at once.) It was supposed to be a surprise, but neither of us were surprised when my son came running in the door announcing, “I painted you something at the painting store mommy, but it won’t be done for a few days!” (The details still remain a secret, however.)