mothers day

What Women of America Really Wanted for Mother’s Day

Posted on 05/16/2013 by | Best of Everything After 50 | Comments

Home & Family | Work | Your LifeMother’s Day is big business. Over $18 billion was spent in the U.S. in 2012 (an increase of 8% over 2011) on Mother’s Day celebrations including flowers, candy, meals, and other gifts. Based on industry forecasts, this year the total was probably higher. Every mother I know loves the special recognition, me included. I appreciate that my husband and daughters let me sleep in a little longer, bring coffee and newspapers to my bed when I finally decide to open …

For Mom, My Heroine, on Mother’s Day

Posted on 05/12/2013 by | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthMy mother had a cleft palate.  It was fixed when she was three years-old, and you could never tell anything was wrong by looking at her, but it left her with two impediments: her speech and her mother. Because of my mom’s speech impediment, my grandmother told my mom she would probably never get married.  Really?  Is that the way you bolster your child’s self-confidence?  Maybe she thought she was protecting her daughter from the harsh realities of life.  To …

Open Letter To Mom: 12 Truths You Taught Me

Posted on 05/10/2013 by | Volunteering | Comments

Home & Family | RelationshipsDear Mom, By now, you’ve probably opened the package I sent for Mother’s Day. If not, SPOILER ALERT: I got you those leggings you wanted (like mine) and an oversized tunic to match. Cute? Yes. Thoughtful? Kinda. Special? Not really. Even the card I sent was ordinary. A few months ago, I picked out the perfect one, but then I forgot it at home on Tuesday, the day I had to USPS it all to arrive on time. #mothersdayfail Mom, …

Haiku to Mom

Posted on 05/10/2013 by | Multigenerational & Family Issues | Comments

Home & Family | Relationships | Your LifeFor Mother’s Day this year, haiku poetry seemed an appropriate medium to express feelings about our moms: short and sweet; direct, descriptive, creative; gets the point across without embellishment-kind of like our moms, right?!   Here is my haiku for Patricia, my Mom, who surprises and amazes and teaches me every day. Fragile and yet strong Her heart grows for her children Mom is love warrior  – @amygoyer I tweeted out my haiku and put out a call for haiku about mothers via my Twitter and …

More Than Just a Mother, Now She’s Your ‘Friend’

Posted on 05/10/2013 by | General News | Comments

Bulletin Today | Home & FamilyBy Martha Mendoza, National Writer, The Associated Press Josh Knoller, a young professional in New York City, spent years refusing his mother’s “Friend Request” on Facebook before, eventually, “caving in.” Today they have an agreement: she’ll try not to make embarrassing comments, and he can delete them if she does. “We actually got into some pretty big fights over this,” says Knoller, 29. “I love my Mom to death but she’s a crazy, sweet Jewish mother and I was a …

Now Read This!: Maya & Lady & Maya

Posted on 05/9/2013 by | AARP Blog Author | Comments

EntertainmentMidrash, or the rabbinical interpretation of Old Testament writings, repeats certain phrases and scenes as a way to help the devout learn sacred texts. The technique may help explain why Maya Angelou seems to be repeating herself throughout her new memoir, Mom & Me & Mom. Before you unleash your outraged cries, I mean to say only that we’ve met these Moms before: One is Angelou’s fascinating and complicated mother, Vivian “Lady” Baxter, a figure well known to readers of her searing …