Thank God for Mom!

The greeting card industry invented Mother's Day as an excuse to sell more cards, candy, and flowers… but the appreciation that the secular world shows for its "Mom" on one Sunday in May can be so much more! Mother's Day can be a special day for your family to thank God for everything Mom, and Grandma, and Great-Grandma do throughout the year, almost an unofficial "feast".

Here are some ideas for celebrating it, with a Christian twist:

Attend Liturgy and sit together as a family, and partake in Communion together. Include your God Mothers as well, if they attend the same parish.
Enlist Dad's help to prepare a Mother's Day brunch from Mom (and Grandma and Great-Grandma if you are blessed to have them with you) after Liturgy. Pancakes, waffles, or Sunday Oatmeal (hot cinnamon oatmeal topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel or maple syrup) are good, easy choices.
Sing "Many Years" for Mom at brunch or dinner.
Remember any Grandmothers, Great-Grandmothers, and God Mothers who are deceased by singing "Memory Eternal." Visit the cemetery if possible, and bring along fresh flowers.
Read and/or talk about what Christ's Mother, the Theotokos, did that was so special to all of us… include the prayer to the Virgin in your blessings for Mother's Day.
Skip the store-bought greeting cards, and make one of your own, with a prayer for Mom, and a list of things she does that you're thankful for…
Enlist Dad's help again to plant a flowering tree, rose bush or a whole garden, or erect a bird feeder for Mom. [The bird feeder can be store-bought, or constructed from sticks, tin-pans, or plastic milk jugs and dowels.]
Complete the one chore that Mom has to remind you about the most ALL WEEK without being told; when she notices, say "Many Years, Mom!"

© 1996 by Orthodox Family Life and the original author(s).
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	Attend Liturgy and sit together as a family, and partake in Communion together. Include your God Mothers as well, if they attend the same parish.
	Enlist Dad's help to prepare a Mother's Day brunch from Mom (and Grandma and Great-Grandma if you are blessed to have them with you) after Liturgy. Pancakes, waffles, or Sunday Oatmeal (hot cinnamon oatmeal topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel or maple syrup) are good, easy choices.
	Sing "Many Years" for Mom at brunch or dinner.
	Remember any Grandmothers, Great-Grandmothers, and God Mothers who are deceased by singing "Memory Eternal." Visit the cemetery if possible, and bring along fresh flowers.
	Read and/or talk about what Christ's Mother, the Theotokos, did that was so special to all of us… include the prayer to the Virgin in your blessings for Mother's Day.
	Skip the store-bought greeting cards, and make one of your own, with a prayer for Mom, and a list of things she does that you're thankful for…
	Enlist Dad's help again to plant a flowering tree, rose bush or a whole garden, or erect a bird feeder for Mom. [The bird feeder can be store-bought, or constructed from sticks, tin-pans, or plastic milk jugs and dowels.]
	Complete the one chore that Mom has to remind you about the most ALL WEEK without being told; when she notices, say "Many Years, Mom!"