Happy Mom's Day!

This weekend is Mother’s Day. And while I firmly believe that Mother’s Day has become another commercialized holiday, I will not gripe over celebrating it. I love my Mother very much and appreciate everything that she has ever done for me. I will gladly give her a day to celebrate her being my Mom and all the hard work that goes into it. I just hate feeling obligated to do something because Hallmark tells me to. Unlike my Mother, I hate giving unpractical gifts. I like them to have meaning, but also I like for the person to be able to use them in some way. She is notorious for collecting useless junk. And I really hate to add to her collection. I usually only add to her junk collection during Christmas since we give each other multiple gifts.

This year for Mom’s Day, I got my mother 2 sets of placemats. In typical Mom fashion, she can’t just have ordinary placemats, she wants fancy ones. The placemats that she wants have a hard finish with some type of artwork on the top and a cork bottom. The ones she currently has are old and getting worn out.


And of course I couldn’t find these placemats anywhere. I looked in all the standard department stores, but all they had were cloth placemats. I even looked on-line at places like Pier 1 and Crate and Barrel and still no luck. I was really banking on getting her them too because I couldn’t think of anything else that she wanted/needed.

Finally inspiration struck and I remembered there is this store called English Trading Company in Tysons that sells English stuff. For some reason, I believe these placemats are English, and viola I was correct! So the store had the placemats that I was looking for. A set of 4 placemats cost $40 bones, which is a bit redic if you ask me. Stupid import rate. The lady better put them to good use and not complain about her gift.

But in all seriousness; thank you Mom for being such a great mother and for doing such a great job raising me. I know that I have not made it easy on you at times and we have had numerous battles to the death. Through all the fights, I know how much you love me and am so glad that you are my Mother. I love you Mom.

My Mother's Gifts

My Mother has this great ability for giving me completely useless gifts. Now before you all say that I’m greedy and it’s the thought and generosity behind the gifts, I will agree with you all. Every gift my Mom gives me is a sweet and kind gesture and she places a lot of love behind it. I do appreciate it and love her for thinking about me when she buys me presents. But man, she sure has some crappy taste or just buys me things I just don’t need or will never use.

As I’ve gotten older, I truly value gifts that are practical, gifts that I can use on a regular basis. I don’t collect things and I hate clutter (ignore the fact that my apartment is always a mess). My Mother and I are the exact opposite. She loves to collect things and her house is full of clutter from her candlestick holder phase, to her chicken infatuation (she was born in the year of the rooster and loves anything that has a rooster on it. In her living room alone there are 13 items with roosters on it!), from her Swarovski crystals, to her newest phase of collecting pretty coffee mugs; my mother is a veritable pack rat. I have become more like my father in the sense that I don’t care/need sentimental gifts. And the worse part is I can’t really throw away the gifts or return/exchange them because my Mom will get offended. So instead, I have to keep them and put them on display in my apartment.

My Mother got me this little calendar thingy for my desk at work, but it’s really meant for the kitchen. So that is where I have placed it, besides it would’ve taken too much room on my desk. I never change the days like I’m supposed to. The last time it was changed was on Christmas and that’s because my Mom came over and saw that it wasn’t up-to-date, so she changed it herself. Its not really ugly, but I have no need for it.


This fish thing, she got for me while she was in Oakland visiting my brother. It’s horrendous and I have it sitting next to the TV. She said the fish reminded her of me because it was making a kissing face and has a margarita on the side. I think she was implying that I’m an alcoholic of some sorts.

This butterfly candle, she got for me when I first moved into my apartment. It currently lives on top of my bookshelf. She thought it would be pretty in my new place. While I love candle gifts and do use the candles she gets me, this is just plain gaudy. It reminds me of something you’d have in your dorm room, but alas, I now have it.


And for this year’s Valentine’s Day, she got me these two stuffed animals. I admit I have two stuffed animals on my bed currently, but that’s it! I stopped collecting stuffed animals when I was in high school. I feel like every year she gets me a stuffed animal and most years, I tell her that she can have it, and they end up scattered around her house. I think she thinks I’m still 12.

I hate to sound unappreciative, cause I know that she loves me and is buying me these things because she does love me. I just wish she would realize that I don’t need these things and perhaps buy me something more useful. Or better yet, just don’t buy me anything at all and make me a nice yummy dinner instead. When did I start hating random presents? Or when did my Mother start losing her art of buying me presents?