TheCleaners.net

If you ran an ad in the paper listing the job description of a Mother, you probably wouldn't get many takers.  For one thing, you could never pay her enough for all that service.  For another, if she has the heart of a true mother, she wouldn't take a dime for it.

This week, we're thinking about how to pay Mom back for even a sliver of piece of a crumb of what she did in carrying us, raising us, loving us.  It's because of this huge debt that Mother's Day is about the most sentimental (and celebrated) day in the annual list of "Days".  More phone calls are made on the weekend of Mother's Day than any other days of the entire year.  More flowers are bought, more smiling ladies taken out to dinner, more inadequate gifts given as a token of our respect and awe.

Don't know what to get Mom this year?  We thought paybacks were worth a try, so we've put together a list of some possible things you can do to let her know you appreciate and love her.  Give her our best!

Jim Nixon
The Cleaners

Quote of the Week

If at first you don't succeed,
do what your mother told you.

Giving Back to Mom Coupon!

If Mom is local, we'd be proud to be part of your Mother's Day celebration.
We have gift certificates, or you can prepay any amount of cleaning in Mom's name.  It's like giving her a whole new wardrobe, if she can get her favorites cleaned whenever she wants! 
(No expiration, this offer is good all year long.) Just e-mail me with the Name, Amount and Store location and I'll have the certificate waiting for you or Mom.

All you can do is make down payments!

There's no way you'll ever pay Mom back.  It's just not possible.  But you can make small down payments, little gestures that let her know that you appreciate the sacrifices over the years, you recognize what she's done, and you want to try to do the same for her.  Here are some ideas to help you begin thinking of your own personalized payback plan.

She fed you.

The Debt:  Until you got out on your own, or had your own family, you had no idea how much energy and time go into just getting meals on the table at regular intervals, did you?  The planning, the shopping, the cooking, doing the dishes.  It never ends.

The Payback: 

• Give her a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant -- or several of them to use throughout the year.
• If you live near her, take her out for a special meal -- not necessarily on Mother's Day when it's so crowded and rushed, but a special time for just the two of you.
• Go through Mom's local yellow pages and look for a Personal Chef who can go to her home, make tasty and nutritious meals that are put in the freezer for her to enjoy all week, and who will even clean up the kitchen before leaving.

She clothed you.

The Debt:  Kids grow like weeds.  What fits one week looks like waders the next.  Shoes don't last long enough to wear out.  But somehow she kept you decent through every growth spurt and passionate designer craze.

The Payback:

• Go shopping with her and get her things she would not normally get for herself.  Get her to try on things that she'd never dare to without you there.
• Get her a gift certificate at her favorite store.  Let her pick what she wants, instead of deciding for her.  Remember when she'd do that for you?
• Give her the gift of cleaning!  If she's here locally, we have gift certificates for cleaning, or you can prepay any amount of cleaning.  If she lives in another area, check the internet and you're sure to find a reputable cleaner who does the same.

She kept the house clean.

The Debt:  Dust bunnies beware, Mom is near!  She might have cleaned out of frustration because you were driving her crazy, but she did it and you benefited.  Now you call her to find out how to get tomato sauce out of the carpet, or wine out of a table cloth.  And she knows!

The Payback:

• Let Mom put her feet up for a while.  Set up a housekeeper to come and help her out every week for a year.  She's done her share.
• Get her a whole box full of some of the new cleaning gadgets and great new cleaning items she's probably seen on TV and looked at in the store, but decided were too expensive.  Offer to try them out with her.
• If she has a yard, set up a contract with a yard service to come every month and keep it looking lovely for her.

She read to you.

The Debt:  If you were a good student, chances are your mother read to you before you ever went off to school.  She sparked your interest in reading and learning and imaginary places.  She opened the window to Neverland and let you fly out with Peter Pan.  And part of you never came back.

The Payback:

• Sign her up for the Books On Tape service and have the rental bills sent to you.  She can have someone else read to her for a change, and whisk her away to her own Neverland.  They have thousands of books all professionally recorded and with 30-day rentals by mail.
• Take a tape recorder with you for a week, and talk to Mom on the tape as you move through your life.  You'll enjoy sharing things with her as if she were right next to you, and she'll be thrilled to receive the tapes.  If she doesn't have a player, send or give her one with the first tape.

She took you everywhere.

The Debt:  It was no joke when they came out with those signs to go in the back window of cars: Mom's Taxi.  From home to school to soccer to ballet to music lessons to sleep-overs to the mall to birthday parties... you helped her run the rubber off several sets of tires.

The Payback:

• Buy her a whole new set of tires for her car, to keep her going safely to the fun destinations she has now that you're out of the nest.
• Take HER someplace -- a special get-away for the two of you to enjoy.  It can be local or a cruise, a day trip or a real vacation.
• Send her on her way.  Next time Mom is going to travel, pick up the tab for the airfare or the tour bus or the rental car to make her trip that much more special and allow her more to spend on having fun, rather than on getting there.

She cheered you on.

The Debt:  It didn't matter if you were the star of the team or just a bench warmer, she was proud.  If you had an enthusiasm, she was right there in it with you, learning as you did.  Sometimes she just tolerated it (remember that collection of dead bugs you treasured?) but she knew it was part of growing into an adult, and she was eager to see who you would be.

The Payback:

• Facilitate her current passion by getting her books about it, videos that pertain, equipment to pursue it.
• Make a contribution to the cause that really gets her heart beating, in her name.
• Volunteer time to her favorite cause -- if she lives nearby, do it together.  But if she lives far away, you can probably still find a local version of what she is involved in and it will touch her deeply that you care enough to give your time.

She bandaged your knees.

The Debt:  Skinning your knee was like a badge of courage... but it hurt a lot!  She was always there with a kiss, some antiseptic, a bandage and a hug, and she got you through the perils of learning to ride a bike, climb trees and play sports.

The Payback:

• Make sure help is just a button away for her.  Sign her up for a service like Med-Alert, so that she can reach help if she falls or is otherwise incapacitated in her home.  The button can be worn around the neck or as a wrist band, and eliminates the worry of her not being able to get to a phone when she needs it most.
• Keep abreast of her health concerns.  If Mom has a problem, research it on the internet and find out how you can best encourage and help her.  Send her books or pamphlets that might be of assistance to her.
• Make a "date" to have your annual physical exams either together or (if she lives in another area) on the same day, so that you can hold each other accountable for maintaining good health.

She loved you.

The Debt:  There is no doubt about it, she thought of you all the time.  Her whole life, schedule and focus was raising you. She still thinks of you, because a mother's job is never done.

Paybacks:

• Everybody likes to get mail!  A Mother's Day card is nice, but what about a card a month?  These days, card sections are filled with cards on every subject or no subject at all.  Just a whimsical card and a note to let her know you're thinking of her will mean the world.
• Buy her phone cards so she can call when she wants and not think of the cost -- and call her often, yourself.
• Get her wired!  If mom isn't already on the internet, get her a computer -- basic systems have come way down.  If she doesn't want to "mess with one of those computer things" then why not look into just an e-mail system like Earthlink's MailStation (link takes you to a review of one system).  These units plug right into the power and phone lines to send and receive e-mail so she can instantly reach out and touch you and her friends through the fun of e-mail.

There's a lot on this list that you can do for Mom.  Don't you wish you could do it all?  Probably too expensive, though.  Funny, but Mom was doing all of that and more for you year in and year out, and she never even thought about it.  Like they say, Motherhood is not for wimps!

Happy Mother's Day!

May Daze Coupon!
After that little cold spell last week you may need to clean that sweater or jacket you had to dig out of storage. If so, bring it in and we'll take $2.00 off the total order. Include a copy of the first page of this e-mail with your order. Offer expires May 8, 2004. Bulletin: You can use this with any other discounts.

Click here to check out our prices.