Oh Mother’s Day. . The day of obligatory flowers and boxes of chocolates.

Mother’s Day is that awkward holiday when you don’t know how to greet each other.

You, cheery: “Happy Mother’s Day!”

Man: “I’m not a mom. . ”

[Awkward.]

You, trying again: “Happy Mother’s Day!”

Woman: “I don’t have any children.” She proceeds to burst into tears in front of you.

[Awkward.]

Finally. .

You: “Happy Mother’s Day!”

Your friend: “Happy Mother’s Day to you too!”

You: “I’m not a mom. . ”

[Awkward.]

It’s also a time you hear questions like, “what are you doing for your mom for Mother’s Day?” Followed by, “oh POO! I forgot all about Mother’s Day!” And so forth.

We seem to monumentally freak out about Mother’s Day. But it’s the one day we get to truly convince our mothers how much we understand and appreciate what we have (and been) putting her through all our lives.

I have an older and a younger brother, two and three years apart from me. Do you know how many plastic laundry baskets we’ve broken in our time? My brother must’ve been seventeen when we snapped our final one.

At six and eight years old, instead of throwing away my baby brother’s full diaper one day, we plopped it in an empty trash can (meant as a container for wood pellets, not trash), followed by grass, rocks, wood pellets (obviously), buckets of mud, bugs, water, and whatever else we found in the yard and stirred it with a walking stick, saying we were making stew for dinner.

The fact is, between nose bleeds and throw up, moms aren’t wimps. We know this. We know how much emotional, physical, and mental trauma we have put our mothers through. And we have this one day each year to try to make up for it, a little bit at a time.

So we try flowers. Chocolate. Gift cards. Spa treatments. “I’m sorry for tearing a hole through the back of your favorite dress. . Yeah. I did it last week and was too scared to tell you. Please forgive me. Happy Mother’s Day, don’t be mad,” notes and other heartfelt verses.

In the end though, it’s really about making moms happy. Or at least having them take a load off for a day.

If you’re in desperate search of ideas, handwritten cards (NOT the kind I described, just ones of appreciation) are always welcome. When someone takes over the cleaning. When someone cleans her car. When the family makes her breakfast and then leaves the kitchen spotless (we usually forget the spotless part).

To moms, it’s the little things that matter.

Go out and make her day a good one. Even if it’s sacrificing having the last word of an argument.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. We appreciate you!