Best and Worst of Mother's Day

I've been trying to remember the best and worst mother's day gifts I've been a party to. I'm not a very good gift giver. The desire is there, but not the imagination to bring a good gift to fruition. On the worst side has to be anything practical like dish towels (I know, it's sad.) I'm the oldest of five and often mom ended up cooking for our family plus grandparents, plus, plus, plus, and if we were at the lake add about three more pluses. By the time she got everything cooked and cleaned, father's day was upon us. I'm sure there were really bad perfumes - Old Spice for women kind of stuff that mom grinned, accepted but thankfully never wore. Probably the best gifts were those we made as little kids that truly expressed our love before we knew how to hide behind Hallmark's sugary fakeness. I'm sure a quite afternoon was also high on the list.

I don't remember much of the mother's days during my marriage. Divorce has a way of stealing memories by burying them where they can't be found. I know that I made the practical gift mistake on more than one occasion. I remember a portable phone, but that may have been for a birthday or Christmas - still a horrid gift for the day. I know the kids wrote songs, and poems that probably rank as the best.

Listening to the radio I've been amazed at all that qualifies as a possible mother's day gift. Oil changes, lawn mowers, custom jewelry (cause if you really love her it'll cost ya), flowers of course, an ATV, boats, vacations, and a nice meal out all vie for our selection as the way we tell mom thanks. But the worst gift, the very worst gift, given or contemplated, has to be the Adult Book store that wants you to remind your mother that "she's still the sexiest mom around". Even in East Tennessee, and probably in most parts of Kentucky, that's just wrong! (Now Alabama, well...)