Mother's Day Traditions

DEBORAH CROMBIE: This is my first Mother's Day as a grandmother! And little Wren sent me the most adorable card (she had a little help from her mom!)

Have you ever seen anything cuter? We have decided, by the way, that I will be Nanagram--assuming of course that Wren doesn't make up her own variation. Kayti liked "Grammie", and I liked "Nana." So--Nanagram! This makes me laugh every time I say it, so I think that's a good thing.

We always celebrated Mother's Day in my family but we never did a certain thing on that Sunday. This year we are going to Mother's Day brunch at our favorite new (tiny) restaurant on the town square here. They do fabulous brunches every Sunday (this is not a use-up-the-week's-leftovers-buffet) so I'm sure this will be wonderful. Maybe we'll start a tradition. I'm so excited for my daughter on HER first Mother's Day!

REDS, do you have any special traditions?

HALLIE EPHRON: My husband gets me flowers (tulips, please) on Mother's Day which is lovely to get. Or sometimes chocolate turtles from Phillips Candy House which is near us. And I milk it, trying not to do anything I don't feel like doing. This will be my daughter's third year as a mom, too. I wish she lived nearby enough to take her to brunch. 

Hallie and her girls

RHYS BOWEN: I used to love the days when the kids would bring me breakfast in bed. So special. This year my son and daughter who live nearby asked what I wanted and I said a picnic. So it will be crusty bread, good cheeses, pate somewhere near the water, which is close to my idea of heaven, especially with my dear ones.(if it doesn't rain, that is. Forecast is iffy). And I still miss my mom. Here's a picture of her.

Rhys's mom

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: It's usually flowers and brunch with friends at our place, with Hubby and Kiddo cooking, of course. This year it's dinner, but I got to pick — a Provencal stewed chicken recipe with lots and lots of olives. We'll be having some friends over and having lots of laughs.

Susan and Mattie

LUCY BURDETTE: Mmmm, that all sounds so good, especially the forbidden olives! We don't really have a certain tradition, since the mothers are sadly gone, and the kids live a distance away. I'm sure there will be cards. And Tonka and Yoda usually come through big:). I found some delicious looking salmon and shrimp at the first farmer's market of the season, so it will be one of those...

Lucy and her mom

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Mother's Day. Hmm. I am the odd person out here. The grands and steps will call, and they are infinitely adorable--but far away. And I get cards from them all--such fun! But Mother's Day is the day when I realize I chose career. All good, and no regrets!  But there it is. And I think of my Mom--we always had champagne and  lovely treats--so I will raise a toast to her this year, as always. And I am counting blessings like mad.

Hank and her mom

DEBS: Hank, this will be my second Mother's Day without my mom, so thinking of her, too. But as you say, counting blessings. Hugs.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Hugs to both of you. You help me realize how grateful I am to have my mom still with us - which makes it sound like she's tottering on deaths doorway, when she'd anything BUT! My brother and sister and I all live a good eight hours away from her, so Mother's Day on that end means cards and flowers and phone calls. The phone calls nowadays are on Skype, so we all get to see each other, at least.

On my end, it's usually a pretty low-key Mother's Day. When I had three little kids, Ross's present to me was getting them out of the house early, so I could sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, and actually read a few chapters in a book. Heaven! Now my kids are 23, 22 and 15, and my big present is that Youngest came home from boarding school for the weekend! Our plans today? Snarf down something quick,  go to church, and then race off to see CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR before getting Youngest on the bus back to school.

Writing all that, I see I am a very lucky woman to spend time with both my mother and my children today!

Julia and her sister Barb with their mom

DEBS: Such fun, mothers and daughters. When my daughter found out she was having a girl, my best friend since grade school said, "I'm so happy for her. She'll have a best friend for life." My friend, by the way, has three sons, and loves them just as dearly.

READERS, we wish you a Happy Mother's Day, in all its incarnations. Tell us how you celebrate!

(My plan? After the scrumptious brunch, lie in the hammock and do NOTHING.)