It can be a challenge to pick the perfect gift or activity to celebrate your mom on Mother’s Day.
To help with ideas, several Centre County moms agreed to share their perfect day.
Katie Feliz, of Pleasant Gap, is married and has two children — her 3-year-old son, Arlo, and 6-year-old daughter, Emberly, who has Down syndrome. Feliz is the vice president of the Centre Region Down Syndrome Society and was recently hired by Strawberry Fields to grow and develop Good Day Cafe, plus Scraps and Skeins, which is a shop for crafters.
“For Mother’s Day, I don’t need a fancy to-do, like some people who like to go out. I enjoy the opportunity to sleep in and have my family make me a meal and a handmade card,” said Feliz.
“That would just float my boat. I don’t want to go out and brave the brunch crowd. Just a simple, relaxing day. My kids can help set the table and they love to crack eggs. My 3-year-old says, ‘Look Ma. We’re hatching them.’”
Kathy Schpak, of State College, is divorced and has a daughter. She retired from the U.S. Post Office after 35 years, and says she works in retail now for fun.
“The best Mother’s Day celebration is a champagne brunch with alcohol. A gift should be just for the mom, something she enjoys, and not for the whole family. No kitchen appliances or frying pans. A sentimental note inside a card, saying how much they appreciate you, has so much impact.
“One year the guys in our family decided to have a barbeque for Mother’s Day. They stood outside by the grill drinking beer and one flipped burgers while the women were in the kitchen making the side dishes. We didn’t do that again,” she said.
“I don’t want to cook on Mother’s Day.”
Robin Lallement, of Boalsburg, is a retired special education teacher and reading specialist. She has two sons, Luc and Paul, who is married to Kelly.
“As you get older, as a mom, your idea of celebration changes from when you were younger. We don’t do gifts now. It’s important to mark the day, more than anything else,” said Lallement.
“Time spent with family. It’s nice to be acknowledged. We always enjoy family meals together, and Kelly’s mom joins us.
“When the kids were young and my husband, Pierre, was alive, they always liked to cook. They loved serving me breakfast in bed on a bed tray,” Lallement continued.
“They thought it meant we’d all have breakfast in the same bed together, and we did. It was a challenge to keep them from spilling anything. Just imagine all of us trying to have breakfast in bed together now.”
Nancy Ralston is a Penn State retiree and lifelong resident of State College.
“My perfect day is just to be with family,” Ralston said.
“I go to church and go down to my mother’s grave on Mother’s Day and leave a card on her grave.
“I don’t need flowers. I don’t need anything, just to be with family,” Ralston continued.
“We like to have a meal together.”
She’ll celebrate the day with her son, Ralph Junior, his wife, JoDell, and perhaps her two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Yang Xu and her husband came to State College from China in 2018 when he joined Penn State as an assistant professor. They have two children, 3-year-old Vincent and 8-month-old Clement. Xu said that Mother’s Day is celebrated in China by giving flowers or gifts, or going out to dinner. Xu buys her mother a gift.
Last year, her husband bought her flowers for Mother’s Day.
For Xu, the weather is very important. A perfect Mother’s Day will have good weather so she and her family can enjoy being outdoors together. She described a recent day as an example.
“The weather was sunny and warm, not hot or cold. We went out all day. No hurry. We went for a hike around Colyer Lake and had pizza for lunch at Tudek Park,” Xu said.
“My two kids ate well and played well and my older kid played with friends at Tudek Park. My youngest slept well and ate well.
“Everyone’s happy. That’s the perfect Mother’s Day.”
This story appears in the May 5-11 edition of The Centre County Gazette.
