by Nicholas Stitt

Created on: May 08, 2008

All right, men, listen up. Some of you may not know it yet, but this Sunday, May 11th, is Mother's Day 2008. That means you owe the ol' woman a day of kindness, respect, some extra attention, and most importantly, a gift or two.

Whether the mother-in-question happens to be your wife, or you're paying tribute to your birth mother, here are ten gift ideas.

FOOD

If you don't eat, you die. If your mom doesn't eat, she dies too. Since most of us cannot dine out every night of the week, Mother's Day is prime time to overpay for a good meal. Visit her favorite restaurant, and call ahead so the cooks can fire up the grill while you ferry over, and then have a hot meal and drinks ready at the table. Bonus, of course; you get to eat a nice meal too, and share some meaningful conversation.

YARD REDECORATING

Some moms are born with a green thumb, addicted to flowers as much as guys get addicted to football. But not every parent or wife may have time to really deck out a section of the backyard for summer growth. If the mom you're treating is a gardener, trek to Home Depot and use your man-skills to pick up some needed supplies, then go home and build. If you're ambitious, this can be as fancy as you like-but even a small improvement to ease her garden hobby can make a big difference. Lengthen the hose and set up a better watering system, dig some trenches for rows of seeds, or mix up some exotic plant food and fertilizer. To help start the garden, transplant some bright potted flowers into their new home.

CAR TUNE UP

Easy for many guys, but don't sweat if you're clueless on auto maintenance. Offer to take her car into the shop and tune up the minor edges; change the oil, rotate the tires, replace the filter, test the battery, and find out why that Check Engine light has been on for 4000 miles with nothing gone wrong to the vehicle. Return the car cleaned inside and out.

CLOTHES/GIFTS

This is an easy one. Shopping alongside mom in store can be brain-numbingly boring for a guy, so surf to your favorite web retailer and let her pick an ensemble. There are many variations to this gift technique; you can send her an e-mail with a pre-purchased gift card redemption code in it, or just buy the stuff yourself to surprise her.

CLEAN THE HOUSE. SERIOUSLY.

Pick a common room in her home and clean and organize from wall-to-wall. Remove every object not chained down, then sweep, swab, and sanitize every surface. Get behind the couch or underneath the sink, clean the oven, painstakingly dust

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>