- Apr 23

Mother's Day treasures! GRAND gift giving! 2024 edition

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

It’s Tuesday

and that means we’re back with a new GRAND post for you all!

With only a few weeks until Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 12, this year),

we’re turning our attention to gift giving

with our own GRAND twist, of course!

Historically, Mother’s Day provides an opportunity for us all

to celebrate the mothers in our lives!

In fact, as Grands ourselves, we get to celebrate twice over,

as mothers and now as grandmothers!

We also know that many Grands are blessed to have their own mothers with them,

thus extending the celebration threefold!

Yet, we both feel that this annual holiday

is also a perfect time to honor our own daughters…

the mothers of our sweet Littles!

After all, these are the young women

who have given us this precious role as Grand that we treasure!

We all know… parenting is hard work!

Our young parents need encouragement, love and a pat-on-the-back

to let them know that they are doing a great job handling it all!

In this post we share a few of our favorite ways of helping Littles

show their love for their own mamas,

with our Mother’s Day Treasures that require just a bit of GRAND help from you!

To begin, we each have a brand new Mother’s Day project to share!

We’ll follow up with a reminder of a few faves

we first offered last year,

including meaningful ways for Distant Grands to join in the fun!

Of course...

many of our ideas can be adapted as gifts for Littles to give to anyone who loves them...

a special mom, grammy, aunt, caregiver, friend!

I love doing activities with my Littles,

and I think it’s important to acknowledge my pride

in my daughter’s (and son-in-law’s) parenting skills!

This is why I choose to do a project with my Littles for Mother’s Day.

It is also a great way to teach them about gratitude and giving!

This project is a wonderful activity to do, especially with younger Littles! Little D and I made this gift when she was 20 months old.

I originally cut letters (M and O) out of tagboard, but Little D kept twisting them around, and it just wasn’t the look I wanted.

You could probably use thicker tagboard or even foam board, but I went ahead and ordered a 12 inch wooden M and O on Amazon.

Here’s how Little D and I completed the project!

1). Find a comfortable spot for your Little with a fairly clear background. I chose our steps because Little D likes to sit on them for a snack and I knew she would be comfortable there.

2). Plan to take a lot of photos! I handed Little D one letter at a time and just snapped away!

3). Choose the final photos that show your Little’s personality shining through.

4). I purchased a frame that had 3 matted square openings, and inserted my favorite photos. You could also glue each photo onto a card if you want to keep your gift simple.

My Daughter A (Little D’s mom) loves her frame

and keeps it on her desk at work!

This year I need to think of a way to include our newest addition - Little P - to the mix!

As a somewhat distant Grand

(we live about 5 hours away by car from our Little L and her mommy and daddy)

I often have to come up with an activity or project

that is quick and easy to complete,

especially when we have a busy weekend visit planned here or there!

A Little’s fingerprints are so precious and this project is a simple way to capture them forever!

Little L and I made this bookmark for Daughter J last year! I only had a few minutes here and there to complete a project since Little L and her mom and dad arrived the day before Mother’s Day and Little L’s mama was usually around! An easy project was a must!

Before Little L arrived for their weekend visit, I had prepped the project by typing out and making a copy of this cute poem.

A space was left after the title, Happy Mother’s Day!, for Little L’s artwork and the year was also included at the bottom, following the poem. The poem was glued to a piece of pink cardstock, but any color will do! As you can see, I also punched a hole in the top of the cardstock and looped some ribbon through since the project served as both a card and a bookmark! I also had a photo of Little L that I'd made a print of and then cut it into a circle and glued it to the center of the flower, as shown.

Little L was just 16 months old last year, so she definitely needed some guidance (help) in making the stem and grass with a green marker. Then, with ink pads (we used three colors, purple, pink and green), Little L added fingerprint flower petals and leaves! You could also use washable paint, too! So cute!

Today, we’re revisiting a few of our past faves -

Mother’s Day/any day gifts given to our daughters

to celebrate their role as a mom!

With a bit of planning,

all are meaningful options for you to consider for the upcoming holiday!!

A Photo Flower Garden!

Laurie did this project with Little D when she was 9 months old to give to her mommy!

Laurie purchased three small terra cotta flower pots and put each one in a gallon Ziploc baggie. She put some paint blobs in with each pot and sealed the bags well. Little D took each bag and smooshed (is that even a word?) the paint over the pots! Let the pots dry overnight.

Little D banged the bag against the table while exploring

and broke one of the first pots!. OOPS!

Two Grand Tips!

Tip 1 - Buy an extra pot!

Tip 2 - Help hold the bag when your Little is smooshing!

After Little D had finished her part of the project, Laurie found 3 photos of Little D. She punched them out and made them into paper flowers with straws as stems.. She wrote Happy Mother’s Day - one word on each pot and inserted the flowers into shredded paper (or Easter grass) that filled each pot. You could also write the date or any other information on the back of one or more of the pots!.

2024 UPDATE!

Little D’s mommy was able to keep the pots and smiling pictures of her little girl

on her window sill for a whole year!

Favorite Purchases for a Special Mom!

Sometimes, as a distant Grand the only option is to purchase something special for your Little’s mommy and have it delivered! Or, perhaps you are a Grand who prefers to purchase a gift, a memento, for the special young mom(s) in your life!

In last year’s post, Laura shared a few of her favorite purchases for Daughter J… each celebrates her role as Little L’s mama!

PLEASE NOTE - We share links of items that we love and we are not compensated in any way!

Magnetic Photos!

When Daughter J returned to work, Laura sent 4-5 pictures of Little L in magnetic photo sleeves. Daughter J could put these on her file cabinets or desk during those early days of being away from Little L! Again… a simple, inexpensive gift for Mother’s Day! You can find the magnetic photo sleeves at most drugstores or here at Amazon.

2024 UPDATE!

These photos are still displayed on the fridge

and Little L still enjoys looking at them in April 2024!

A Personalized Travel Mug!

Laura purchased this mug for Daughter J when she headed back to work after her maternity leave! It would be an equally thoughtful gift for Mother’s Day. Here are the details if interested in this specific one!

2024 UPDATE!

Little L likes to sip her water from Mommy's mug these days!

OH MY! Did you notice Little L's arm?

Poor baby!

A Mama Bracelet!

This was a special gift from Laura to Daughter J… we were both so excited to welcome a little one into our world and Laura was equally excited for this new mama! Here are the details (from Nordstrom) if you want to learn more!

2024 UPDATE!

This simple bracelet continues to be a favorite piece of jewelry

for Little L’s mommy!

Showing Love from a Distance!

This activity is an adaptation from an annual project Laura would do with her kindergartners to celebrate Mother’s Day. It’s one we shared last year but it definitely bears repeating!

If you live far from your children and grandchildren, and are unable to get together to work on a project but would like to, here’s an idea for you! Write out or prepare a series of partial statements for your Littlew to complete. Here are some examples - thoughtful, silly, meaningful!

Once you have your list together, call or Facetime with your older Little(s) and be sure that their mom is not listening!. Ask your Littles to finish the statements and write their answers down. Send them in an email, text or card to their mom, remembering to add your own comment about what a wonderful mom she is to your grandkids!

(NOTE: If your Littles are old enough to write their own answers, you could email or mail the statements to them or their dad and they could write their out themselves as a special gift!)

If your Littles are babies or toddlers, write the answers yourself (from your own perspective) and send… Let that tired mom know what a great job she is doing, and how much you admire her. Thank her for raising your grandchild(ren) and remind her that you are always there, cheering her on!

2024 UPDATE!

As an alternative to the activity above,

use the prompts to interview your Little!

Record his/her answers to your questions and then share the video with Mom!

Whether homemade, purchased or a shared virtual experience,

the thought that goes in to giving a Mother’s Day gift or card

is what truly matters and means the most!