My Grandma's Hands - Mother's Day Gift

 Well Mother's Day is just about upon us, friends.  I've been thinking a lot lately about all the little "mom" moments that make me laugh/want to pull my hair out. Being a mom is just the best.  No other way to slice it.  It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done (along with being a wife).  And I think the reason for that is because it really forces me to be UN-SELFISH and gives me countless opportunities to revel in the many successes of my little ones.  My friend and I were talking yesterday about how our true "happy place" is watching our kids in their "happy places".  I love watching the people they are becoming.  It's just the closest glimpse, I believe, we can get of how our Savior and Father in Heaven feel about us and I love that.

Now, don't get me wrong.  Along with all these beautiful moments, comes their fair share of "if you don't shut up (please) I'm going to run away to China" moments.  Of course, I would (pretty much) never actually say those words to my kid. (oops)  Like for instance, yesterday when I was dragging two screaming boys away from the park, which we'd been playing at for 2 hours, so we could pick up their sister from school.  Now that was a good time.  All eyes were on me.  They were all wishing they could emulate my awesome parenting skills because clearly THEY ARE WORKING!

But I gotta admit that those two little freakers are pretty easy to forgive.  I mean, no one else jams to Elton John with me like they do.  They know every word to Something About The Way You Look Tonight.  And that's just irreplacable awesomeness.  Hopefully they forgive me too. :)

I'm getting totally off from my reason for even getting on here today... so let me redirect!  I actually wanted to talk about GRANDMAS and to give you an idea for a Grandma Mother's Day gift.

My grandmas rule.  My Grandma Kathleen died 10 years ago.  I can't believe it's been that long.  I think about her all the time because really I just loved every second I had with her.  I never got tired of being around her.  She was happy and positive and funny and sweet and kind and sassy and really just all the good stuff tied into one person.  And don't even get me started on her baking.  I think in my family we owe our love of frosting to her.  She let me sit on her lap until I was kind of old which was super cool and she could do the splits into her late 60s.  Come on now, who doesn't want a former-Cougarette-split-doing grandma?!

My Grandma Ruth is equally as awesome.  We took these pictures a couple Christmases ago.  In the first one, she's confused because I was trying to take a selfie with her and she couldn't figure out "when we took that picture" that I was showing her on my phone.

Then I explained that it was just me trying to take one of us right now and you can totally see it click for her!  I just love her.  When I was a kid, I'd go spend a week with her every summer.  I'd go to work with her at the auction and play on the ten-key machine while she worked.  Then she'd take me to Macey's and buy me orange tic-tacs.  And one of the coolest things she did was when she called me one day and offered her bike to me because she had heard me saying I wanted to get one so I could ride with my kids.  Yes, I am the proud owner of a hot pink, hand me down bike from my grandma.  I LOVE IT!

And now mine and Tristan's moms are grandmas and they are really the best we could dream of for our kids!  Because for kids, grandmas are just like moms with seemingly unlimited patience and wisdom because they've figured out which things really matter and which things don't!

A few years ago I wrote this poem and based gifts for my kids' grandmas on it.  I don't have a picture of the gifts (sorry!).  I just attached the poem/card to a flower pot filled with "hand" stuff.  I did gardening gloves, lotion, hand towels, nail polish, etc.  You could make this as elaborate or as simple as you want.  It would also be really cute to give it with your kids' handprints.  You could do their prints (or trace their hands) on paper or make any cute little craft with them.  You could also put their handprints on an apron and give her that!  Here's the poem and then a printable in a few colors:

Grandma's Hands

My Grandma’s hands are magic hands,

It seems like they do it all.

They clap and cheer,

They wipe away tears,

They know how to bake,

Lots of cookies and cakes,

They wash the floor,

They shop at the store,

They work, they play,

They fold when she prays,

They write in a card,

They work in the yard,

They help the down-hearted.

See, I’m just getting started,

Listing all her hands can do.

One thing they do best,

Better than all the rest,

Is they help me to do things too!

They color with me,

As we laugh with glee,

They turn pages in books,

They help me to cook,

They show me what’s right,

And they hold me tight.

Of all the things her hands can do,

I’m honestly only naming a few.

But one thing’s for sure,

I can’t ask for more,

Than for my Grandma to be YOU!!

Happy Mother’s Day!

You could obviously use this for moms too.  Here's a couple printable versions for that using "mommy" or "mother":

You should be able to click on the image and save it to your computer and then print it out!

Happy Mother's Day!!