The Best Mother's Day Gift

Are you as camera-shy as my sisters and I are? Even back when we were kids, we fussed so much about having our picture taken that my mom only managed to drag us to a portrait studio once. I actually still dislike that picture quite a bit, because with three fairly unphotogenic children, picking the "best" picture of the bunch may still mean that someone looks awful. Plus the clothes and hair back then.... Yikes!

Nowadays, digital cameras have made it easier to get good pictures, because you can take as many as you want without having to worry about wasting film, or paying to have a bunch of bad photos developed. But still, there's something special about a professional photo portrait. So if you want to give your mom the best possible Mother's Day present, why not corral your siblings into having a quality photo taken together? (I note that in my experience, I got better results with an independent photographer with his/her own studio, as opposed to a department store studio.)

My sisters and I did this for our parents' 35th wedding anniversary, and boy, were they surprised! The actual large portrait was not ready in time, so we taped the little "proof" photo into a dress shirt box and wrapped that up. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my mom cried because she was so surprised and happy.

So how does this fit in with a Mother's Day version of the "stocking stuffer style gift"? It really is a larger gift, I know -- but you could hide a small wallet size photo in a small box that fits inside a Mother's Day gift basket, with the larger portrait to follow. Or you could be sneaky and buy your mother a wallet for Mother's Day, and sneak the photo into the photo holder.

Mother's Day is meant for children to give mothers a token of appreciation for all that they've done for us. In my experience, though, what mothers want most is us. So give the gift of you to your mother this year!