Need help with different Mother’s Day dilemmas? Etiquette expert may have your solution
Q. My mother will never let us kids take her out to eat on Mother’s Day. She always insists on cooking a big meal for us and she makes all of our favorite dishes. She spends days cooking ahead and we feel so guilty. How can we get her to let us take her out instead? We have tried everything.
A. Maybe you should consider not trying so hard. After all, when all is said and done, the best Mother’s Day for a mother is when her children do something which makes her happy. What makes your mother happy is being able to cook all your favorite dishes, eat with you and hear you tell her how wonderful everything tastes. As long as she is able to do the cooking, that is what she wants and that is what makes her happy. Therefore, I suggest you stop feeling guilty and enjoy the fact she can and wants to cook for you and your sister. When the day comes when perhaps she cannot cook for you, then you can offer to cook for her or take her out to eat.
Q. My son gets upset with me every Mother’s Day because he asks me what I want and I always have the same answer: Nothing but to spend as much of the day as possible with you. He always thinks he has to take me to a fancy restaurant and give me flowers and a gift. How can I convince him that he doesn’t have to spend so much money on me?
A. Your question is similar to the first question — only in reverse! My answer: If it makes him happy to do something nice for you, let him do it and be happy. If there is something you have been wanting, then tell him so he doesn’t buy you something you totally don’t like.
Q. My husband has bought me a corsage for Mother’s Day since the first day I became a mother. He likes it when I wear it to church and I am usually the only mother there wearing a corsage. How can I get him to stop doing it without hurting his feelings?
A. There probably is no way to get him to stop without hurting his feelings, so enjoy it and the fact he loves you and getting you a corsage on Mother’s Day is one of the ways he shows it.