The Perfect Mother's Day Gift - Your Mom Doesn't Need More Stuff, She Needs Your Help!

By Diana Beam

Mothers Day is the day you send mom a dozen roses and wax poetic about how wonderful she was when you were small, and how she has always been there for you, right?

Nope.

Mother's Day is a great opportunity for you to help your mother and to begin to pay back some of the debt owed for years of care including: bandaging knees, listening to problems, offering advice (even the unsolicited kind) and generally offering you unconditional love and acceptance.

Your mother needs you now and it's time to step up!

Daily tasks may not be as simple as they once were. Do what you can to help make them more manageable. Helping your mother retain her independence is one of the best gifts you can give. Independence means staying safe and healthy. A single fall can rip away her freedom.

Mom may need to organize the kitchen so things she needs are stored in more convenient locations and the things she no longer needs are packed away or donated. This isn't just an organizational undertaking, it's a matter of safety. Climbing to reach things, having to stoop and crawl into the back of cabinets for things isn't ideal for an aging parent.

Helping her rearrange her surroundings (while taking into consideration the special needs of seniors) may save your mother a dangerous fall or an uncomfortable strain. At the minimum, it will make daily chores easier and will make cooking more enjoyable.

You can:

• Help to organize kitchen cabinets
• Offer to donate the oversized kitchen equipment while retaining or purchasing proper sized pots and pans for her current cooking needs
• Discard plastic ware, utensils and other items that are damaged, warped or have seen better days
• Paint the insides of cabinets to make contents easier to view and to make them easier to clean
• Purchase a sturdy step stool with a hand-hold for reaching seldom used items in top shelves

Dressing is a chore when closets are overstuffed or out-of-season clothes are in the way. May is a great time to pull out all the spring and summer things and pack away the winter clothes - or send them to be cleaned and stored at the neighborhood dry cleaner.

Maybe spending an afternoon helping your mother clear out her closet to make it easier to reach what she needs and to remove and outdated, worn, or unused pieces would be the best present you could give.

So, it's almost Mother's Day. Why not call her and offer to spend the day making her life a bit easier this year? If you have brothers and/or sisters willing to join you in these efforts, maybe a "family work day" would be the best present ever!

If you are not local, you can hire knowledgeable, dependable help that is. You can accomplish a number of the needed services long distance by using a Rightsizingฎ consultant who will do much of the legwork and services coordination for you.

Call a professional to help you determine how to best assist your mother and this year you can give a gift that will be enjoyed every day, not just the few following Mother's Day.

Diana Beam of http://www.SmoothMovesForSeniors.com is a professional Rightsizingฎ Consultant and move manager specializing in the needs of Baby Boomers and their senior parents. Call her at 800-664-5541 for a free consultation to determine if she can help you or your parents Rightsizeฎ for more joy and less worry.