Tea Time with Mom

Tonight as we flipped my son’s calendar to the month of May, he reminded me that I needed to draw pictures on all of the important days of the month. I drew scissors for our haircut appointment, soccer balls for his soccer practices and a smiling mom with hearts on Mother’s Day.

“What’s that day?”

“It’s mother’s day.”

“Oh. When’s kid’s day?”

“Kid’s day? It’s your day everyday! Poor mom and dad only get one day a year!”

It’s so true, mom’s need to be appreciated more than one day a year. They are constantly there for us, offering support even after we have flown the coop. I know not all mom’s are the greatest, or the most supportive, or even very nice, but I am fortunate to have three fantastic mom’s in my life to celebrate Mother’s Day with each year. I am grateful to each for the support they have given me and still give me everyday. So here’s to – my Mom, my Mum (best mother-in-law ever), and my Nana. Thank you!

As a family, we go to the races every year, usually with my husband’s parents. I love watching the horses. It is an awesome way to kick off the racing season and celebrate spring. The track usually has a family fun day with pony rides for the kids and a petting zoo.

My favourite tradition, that we began a few years ago, is celebrating Mother’s Day with a good old-fashioned afternoon tea. While a tea actually requires more work than an actual lunch or brunch the boys and I enjoy putting it on every year. (Okay, so they enjoy getting in my way and eating the food as I am trying to make it, but the oldest is finally starting to be really helpful.)

One year it was so warm we actually had our tea outside in the gazebo. I wish we could do that every year. Blast the fickle Manitoba weather!

To me, Mother’s Day should be all about flowers. Whether inside or out, we always use a lot of flowers when decorating for our tea. A simple way to dress up the table is to buy some beautiful blooming flowers in 6 inch pots – gerberas, osteospermums, and geraniums are great for this. Then depending on your budget and creativity, you can buy matching pots at the local garden centre or dollar store. I send each mom home with a flower and pot. If you want to get the kids involved, have them paint or decoupage plain clay pots, one for each mom attending (and you can check off gifts from kids from your list). One year we hung beautiful mauve hydrangea blooms from the chandelier over the table with wide mauve ribbons. The boys had a blast standing on the kitchen table trying to hook the ribbons on the lights. This year I think I am going to go with a green paisley theme and am pondering using herbs as my table décor.

For tea, I make all sorts of tantalizing little finger foods. This year the menu will include: traditional finger sandwiches, bacon wrapped tenderloin (so tasty!), one yet to be determined warm dish, pate and crackers, antipasto – meats, cheeses, olives, pickles and of course fresh fruit and pastries. Hopefully, I won’t decide to add on too much more. While I do offer to serve tea and coffee, the freshly squeezed raspberry lemonade, or old-fashioned ice tea infused with strawberries (made from tea bags), are the beverage of choice for young and old.

Once everyone has had their fill, we play our Mother’s Day game. The boys love playing games and since I introduced this game a few years ago it has become a staple of our festivities. Similar to hot potato or the present game, everyone passes a pretty watering can from person to person (children included). When the music stops, the person with the watering can chooses a gift from inside and are then out of the game. We continue on until everyone gets a gift. (Gee, I wonder why the kids like this game? Even on Mother’s Day they still manage to get a gift.) I fill the jug with novels, luxurious hand creams, fashion scarves, gardening supplies and the like ensuring that there are plenty of gifts to choose from. Of course, there are a few child themed toys in the mix as well.

This is how we celebrate with our moms. To me, it’s about spending time with them, and after the hectic preparations, just being able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labour with the people I love.

So, what do you do for Mother’s Day?