Though Mother’s Day is an important time for the kids to show Mom how important she is to them, it doesn’t have to be an event just for the kids. Use Mother’s Day as an opportunity to show your wife how much she means to you and how appreciative you are to her for making the two of you parents.

Mother's Day

Make Sure She Doesn’t Lift a Finger

Even if you and your wife are pretty good about making sure one spouse doesn’t end up doing more of the housework than the other, chances are your wife will still likely appreciate a day off of her feet. Get up early or stay up late the night before to take care of any of her usual Sunday chores like laundry or vacuuming. Take care of the kids in the morning to let your wife sleep in, make her breakfast in bed, and clean up all the dishes before she comes downstairs.

Spoil Her

Think about the things that make your wife smile. Does she like to be showered with gifts? Get her something special that she’s had her eye on plus some other little surprises. Have flowers delivered to the house or her office the Friday before Mother’s Day by a delivery company like ProFlowers. Or is your wife the type who just loves quality time? Ask her to pick out something that she would like to do, maybe something she doesn’t normally get to do when she is too busy like going golfing or shopping for books, and make it a family event.

Cook for Her

Unless your wife would prefer a nice dinner out, try your hand at cooking her a nice meal. It doesn’t have to be something terribly fancy. If the two of you don’t often get to do fun, silly things together, make it something you both do, though be sure to give her the fun or easy jobs. She’s supposed to have the day off, after all!

Make it a Date Night

After the kids have had a chance to give Mom their gifts and make her breakfast in bed and go on a trip to the zoo together, make the rest of the day a chance for the two of you to have a date. As parents, it’s probably hard for the two of you to get a lot of time alone, so make this day a celebration of her not only as a mother but also as a wife. Book a night at a bed and breakfast or a nice hotel in a nice part of your area. This way, you don’t have to go too far but you can still feel like you’ve had a nice vacation.

Sign Up for a Class Together

Couples painting classes have become very popular recently. You can go together and drink wine while you learn to paint from an example painting done by the instructor. Other ideas for classes might include dance class, tennis class, or yoga. Consider what would be most interesting for your wife. For example, if she already enjoys skiing, maybe she would be interested in taking a class in horseback riding.

Give Her a Spa Day

Send your wife to the local spa or go together. Some spas include lots of services like manicures/pedicures, massages, and hair styling, so let her choose which things she wants most. Alternatively, give her an at-home spa. Prepare her a bubble bath with candles, buy her nice bath products from somewhere that specializes in them, like Lush.com, and give her a massage.

Do Something Totally New

Plan a trip for your wife based on all of the vacation ideas she’s ever day dreamed about and all of the fun activities she’s wished you had more time to try out. Get as ambitious with your planning as you can reasonably afford. If she loves camping and hiking, take her to a state park for a weekend of camping, hiking, rock climbing, and rafting. If she loves animals and the beach, take her on a whale watching trip.

Make Her the Star

Whatever you do, the most important thing is that your wife feels loved and appreciated at the end of her Mother’s Day. You know your wife best, so try to be creative when considering her interests. Even if everything doesn’t work out perfectly, your wife will appreciate all of the love and effort that goes into the planning.