Mother’s Day Madness


By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher

The struggle – and the cost – is real when searching for the perfect Mother’s Day card.

I believe I need a career change.  I got so aggravated the other day, I know exactly what that change should be.  Somebody with some sense and the ability to express sentiments in a meaningful and memorable way needs to join the Hallmark team, because the options when choosing a greeting card are slim and none.

Sure, every once in a while, you will hit on a card that’s funny or speaks to you.  Unfortunately, said card is usually $6 – for paper with words and a visual.  Really?

I literally stood in Walgreens in the card aisle for a solid ten minutes combing through cards for Mother for Mother’s Day.  I found sappy, stupid and sparse.  Should it be this hard?

I picked up one that expounded a sentiment that talked endlessly about a lifetime of memories made and the profound impact a mother has made – for two pages.  Seriously?  If I gave that to Mother, she would immediately think I was dying.

I am a poem writing phenom – been so since I was young.  I still remember the beginning of a poem I wrote for Mother’s Day when I was in first grade.  It went something like this:

“Mothers, mothers, we all have them.

They cook and sew and clean the den.”

In my defense, I had gone to private school up until then and didn’t realize that indeed, everyone did not have a mother and surely didn’t have a mother like mine – one who got me up every morning, dressed me in cute outfits, did my hair (which has always been a beast) and got me to school in a timely manner every day.  That’s saying a lot because Mother is not a morning person either.

I can a pen a poignant poem for a specific occasion and have done so for years.  When my babies were little, I threw them theme birthday parties.  More times than not, the invitation was a poem to commemorate the occasion.  Now for those of you going, “Ahhh, that’s so sweet,” about now, I will tell you my babies were not overly in awe of my efforts.  “Looks good,” was about the best response I received.  Kassidi nearly always edited hers; I can appreciate that.  But I thought – and still think – they were fabulous.  And yes, I have copies of all the invitations filed accordingly:  Kassidi’s 2nd Birthday, Kolton’s 3rd Birthday, etc.  I’m that momma.

In the end, my expedition to find the perfect Mother’s Day card wasn’t a complete waste of time.  I left the drug store empty handed and went to my go to for all things celebratory:  Dollar Tree.  I found a card with a beautiful cover that simply said, “Happy Mother’s Day.”  There was ample room inside the blank pages for me to write my own words.  That works for me.  And all for $1.25.  Yes, the Dollar Tree is actually $1.25 now.  No truth in advertising there.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our porch-sittin’ mommas.  I hope your day is filled with flowers, sparkle and wine, and best of all, time with your babies.  All the happy things that fill a momma’s heart with joy.  See y’all next week – on the porch!


Patti Parish-Kaminski

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