Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 8, 2016; marking a time for many to celebrate the women in their lives, whether they are mothers, wives or girlfriends. It also means I have less than a week to figure out what to get my wife to celebrate her day.
This year, Mother’s Day is also bittersweet for me personally as it marks the first holiday without my mom, making it difficult to get into the shopping spirit.
Plus when it comes to picking out gifts, I must admit, I am terrible. For some reason, waiting until the last minute seems to be my modus operandi every year. I wait far too long to start thinking about gift ideas, and then once I have an idea, I usually put off getting this gift until the last possible minute.
I blame Amazon and its two-day shipping policy for fostering this wait-til-the-last-minute approach. I think this trait is hereditary though as my father would often send my brother and I out to the store to pick up a gift at Christmas or birthday time, usually a day or two before.
One would think that by doing all that shopping as I child, I would have become proficient at it. But that is not the case. Send me to a store, and I somehow instantly forget everything there is to know about what I am looking for.
If a clerk asks me “What size does your wife wear?” I panic, so clothing is rarely something I purchase. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have purchased an article of clothing for my wife over the past 15 years that she actually enjoyed.
I asked my kids over the weekend what gifts they would like to give. My youngest replied, “Um, she likes chocolate.” But then that begs the question “What kind of chocolate?” Sounds like an easy question, but when faced with a myriad of choices at Uncle Willy’s Candy Shoppe, I go blank. One year, I actually called a former co-worker of my wife’s to ask her “What kind of chocolate does my wife like?”
And since my wife has been working out more frequently of late, I am not sure chocolate is necessarily the right way to go. What kind of message does that send? “Hey great job working out … have some chocolate!”
Flowers are something my wife is not fond of, since they only last a short period of time. She has regularly told me not to waste money on them, so even that easy pick is off the list. Plants last, but one can only have so many hanging ferns and such before it becomes a bit too much.
Jewelry is another option, but how does one decide between a ring, a necklace or earrings? And then is it gold, silver, white gold, platinum? So many choices it becomes overwhelming.
Perhaps dinner and a movie is the way to go? Surely she is chomping at the bit to see the new “Captain America” movie? Right? Oh wait, that’s me.
Hopefully my kids come home from school with a fantastic gift they made. Otherwise, I’ll be taking them to the store on Saturday telling them to “Go buy something for your mother.”
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for The Houlton Pioneer Times. He can be reached at jcyr@pioneertimes-me.com or 532-2281.
