Celebrating Mother’s Day as a Single Mom

+ last-minute DIY gifts for grandmas, human mamas, dog mamas.. or anyone really with a kid or a pet!

Last Mother’s Day, a kind stranger at the beach asked if my airdrop was on and sent me this sweet candid of Preston and me playing in the sand.

Holidays are wonderful. Family, loved ones, smiles, laughter… but holidays can also majorly suck. Not to be a grinch, but I imagine you’ve had at least one holiday you dreaded. For years, that was Father’s Day for me (my dad died when I was 13). But once my stepdad came along, I loved celebrating him. I also have friends who’ve faced their own holiday heartaches, some who couldn’t conceive and others who’ve lost a baby. Yeah, Mother’s Day has been tough for them.

As a single mom, my feelings are all over the place. But before we get into that, let’s talk gifts. Because if you’re celebrating, the countdown is on.

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I think Mother’s Day gifts are personal. I got my mom something very specific that really only applies to her. But… Preston and I also made his Gogo (what he calls his grandma) a super cute DIY. It’s actually the second year in a row we made her a photo DIY gift, so I wanted to share them in case you need some last-minute ideas.

This year was a peach tree. When I was pregnant, my mom’s peach tree started blooming after years of being dormant. And don’t worry, we already gave her the gift before she left (more on that below).

Last year was a bouquet with flower faces of all her human and dog kids. Preston and I first made one for his grandpa after surgery so he could have fun flowers on his nightstand. It turned out so great, we kept making them!

And well, Preston’s first Mother’s Day? I was postpartum (aka exhausted), so we ordered Gogo photo gifts from Shutterfly.

If you want the full instructions on how to make them, plus a super easy school bus frame we made earlier this year, I actually posted on my blog…

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Ok, back to celebrating Mother’s Day.

Year one: surprisingly great… thanks to my own mom.

I was so nervous about Mother’s Day. I had just given birth about two months prior. As a single mom with a newborn, I was convinced that loneliness would overshadow the holiday. But my incredible mom came through, and then some. She “helped” my son celebrate me all weekend. We didn’t go anywhere fancy. We didn’t spend a ton of money. We wore matching t-shirts, ate in the backyard and exchanged small sentimental gifts and thoughtful cards. Mother’s Day was full of love and appreciation, a true representation of the origin of the holiday.

Thoughts About Mother's Day + Mini Indulgences

Year two? (I literally just pouted as I typed that…)

After the break for paid subscribers:
• the messy moment that nearly derailed my Mother’s Day
• therapy tricks that pulled me through
• a raw reminder I hold onto as a mom