My Perfect Mother’s Day

How would you like to spend your special day? Idling over breakfast in bed with your little ones? Hiking up a trail en famille? Or, enjoying a few hours of solitude at your favorite spa? We asked our team of Modern Mom experts to share their dreams with us.

Lolita Carrico, Mother of Jaden, 6, and Jack, 3, and Founder and CEO of Modern Mom

How would you love to spend Mother’s Day?
“A day at a spa with some of my fellow mom-friends: a massage and then just a few hours of doing absolutely NOTHING, i.e. lounging at the pool, reading magazines and chatting. I might even turn my Blackberry off!”

What gifts – large and small – would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day?
“Honestly, I just want to have some time to relax on my own. I’m blessed with amazing children who give me gifts — hugs, drawings, helping me around the house — pretty much every day. As a single mom, between work and being with the kids I sadly can’t even remember the last time I had more than 30 minutes to myself! The greatest big gift would be the spa day I mentioned above!”

Liz Lange, Mother of Gus, 9, and Alice, 7, and Modern Mom’s Style Expert

Your perfect Mother’s Day?
“I would love to spend the day with my family in a relaxed manner. We live in the city but we are usually at our weekend home in Westchester over the weekends, so just a warm lazy Sunday by our pool would be heaven.”

What gifts would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day? “I love pedicures and reflexology (my poor feet get quite the work out as I am almost always in high heels) so definitely to be able to have the time to do both of those things would be wonderful.
“In a fantasy world (and if i am going to be totally superficial!): I would be able to shop until my heart’s content on Net-a-Porter.com and at Bergdorf Goodman somehow without racking up a huge American Express bill! I go out a lot and I can’t get enough little dresses in bright colors this season!”

Missy Chase Lapine, Mother of Emily, 10, and Samantha, 7, and Modern Mom’s Food Contributor, also known as the Sneaky Chef

Your perfect Mother’s Day?
“The day would start with my kids sneaking downstairs to make my breakfast in bed – fresh berries with a bit of decadent whipped cream and cinnamon raisin toast. I love the thought of their working together to make me a surprise Mother’s Day breakfast, and I wouldn’t even mind the clean up afterwards. Then we’d go on a family hike (with our black Labrador, Princess) through a beautiful state park. My ideal Mother’s Day would also include good friends and of course, good food (that I don’t have to make myself!) And of course, I’d love to spend time with my own mother, so ideally she’d come up north to visit for Mother’s Day and enjoy hanging out with the girls and me.”

What gifts would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day?
“Hand-written love notes by Emily and Samantha. Lots of hugs and no bickering or whining all day! And a gift certificate for a massage at a spa would be the icing on the cake!”

Sophfronia Scott, mother of Tain, 3, and our Modern Mompreneur columnist

Your perfect Mother’s Day?
“I would like to spend Mother’s Day taking awesome care of myself because I believe doing so helps me to be a better mother. I would like to wake up that day and go out to breakfast with my husband, Darryl and our son Tain at our favorite diner. Then I’d like to go home, send Darryl and Tain off to do something really fun on their own, like going to the Natural History Museum in New York City while I get into my Mazda Miata and take a long drive with the top down and my iPod blaring all the way to the Norwich Inn and Spa in Norwich, Connecticut. There I would indulge in a yoga class, a facial, body scrub and last of all a massage. Then I’d sit in my robe and drink tea in the garden there. I’d also meditate for a bit before getting back in my car and driving home and arriving just in time to help get Tain into bed and hear him say, ‘Mama! You’re back!’”

What gifts would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day?
“Because my son is so attached to me I believe it’s a gift and a blessing when he and his papa can have fun spending time alone together. To me, that would be a big gift. For a small gift: I love flowers and Tain and I planted bulbs last fall. Sure, a big bouquet of flowers is always welcome, but the best thing would be to have Tain take his little safety scissors and cut one of the daffodils we planted together and have him bring it in the house and say, ‘Here, Mama, I picked this for you!’ It wouldn’t get any better than that!”

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Jill Spivack, mother of Jake, 11, and Emma, 9, and one of Modern Mom’s Sleep Experts and a co-creator of Sleepy Planet

Your perfect Mother’s Day?
I would love to wake up around 10am, take a hot bath and go on a hike with my husband and my children. We would take a picnic lunch and tell each other all the ways that we appreciate and love one another!

What gifts would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day?
The biggest gift – aside from a nice diamond! – would be an expression of love and appreciation from my children. I always love artwork from them, a letter or poem, or even a simple hug and an honest “I love you” does the trick.

Jennifer Waldburger, one of Modern Mom’s Sleep Experts and a co-creator of Sleepy Planet. Jennifer is an honorary mother to her friend Nicole’s daughter, Evalyn, 2 months (pictured here with Jennifer)

Your perfect Mother’s Day?
I would spend it with my own mom, honoring and celebrating her. The older I get, the more I appreciate the sacrifices and decisions she has made as a mother.

What gifts would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day?
I think the greatest gift any mother can receive is also the simplest: Love. It might sound cliché, but the love that flows from a child to a parent is perhaps the purest love there is. It’s unconditional, unfiltered, unconcerned with how it’s packaged. Kids are great teachers on this subject. 

Melissa Leonard, mother of Mackenzie, 7, and Riley, 6, and Modern Mom’s Etiquette Expert

Your perfect Mother’s Day?
“Someone recently asked me, “What do you like to do in your free time?” I was speechless. I couldn’t answer because it has been so long since I really did anything for myself.

“So with that in mind . . .My ideal mother’s day wouldn’t involve my husband or kids. Now, that may sound mean, but it is not intended to. I spend every day and evening with my family and I would love a day for myself. A day where I don’t have to pick up the slack the next morning. A day where garbage, laundry, cleaning cooking is done for me (so I don’t have to work on overdrive the following day), while I spend a day going to the spa with a girlfriend, maybe shopping
for myself and just having no cares or worries. I would love the kids in bed early, so when I get home, I could take a hot bubble bath and have fabulous take-out and a nice quiet movie with my husband. That would be my PERFECT DAY!”

What gifts would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day? “I am not a big gift person, so big isn’t something I expect. The best gift would be a note from my husband (not written five minutes before he gives it to me), cards from my kids and a general appreciation for all I do and sacrifice for my family. If I did receive a gift, I would love a gift certificate to Old Navy or the GAP, so I could shop for some clothes…but I usually end up using it on my kids…oh well! 🙂

Alison Singh Gee, mother of Anais, 6, and Modern Mom’s Editorial Director

Your perfect Mother’s Day?
How much would I love to wake up to a spotless house with garden flowers overflowing from beautiful vases? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate gift? Failing that, I’d love to idle over morning tea and croissants in our backyard garden with my sweet daughter and husband. Then I’d like to meet my mother for a leisurely lunch and a heartfelt conversation about all our years together. Then, my husband, daughter and I would take our favorite hike up to a waterfall and I would have an hour to myself in the woods, just to read and think and enjoy the trees.

What gifts would mean the most to you on Mother’s Day?
My husband usually knows now just to march straight into Anthropologie and buy me a new dress – so that’s easy, but unnecessary this Mother’s Day. I think I would love from them a framed photograph of the three of us, or one of my daughter’s drawings of our family, with the words, “I love you so much, Mommy,” scrawled across the top.

Now…your turn to contribute! What would make up your perfect Mother’s Day?