I never know what we should do for Mother’s Day. The idea is to show love and appreciation for the woman who gave you life, made sacrifices to raise you and nurtured your dreams. What exactly can you do in one day to really show you understand what all that means to you? Is one day out of the year to pamper your mother a fair exchange for the other 364 days she did the pampering? Of course it isn’t, but that’s the thing about being a mother; they don’t expect to get it back.

My mother lives in Maine, so I haven’t spent a Mother’s Day with her in a long time. I send a gift and call her. My mother-in-law lives in the next town, so we spend part of the day with her. For a long time we took her to brunch on Mother’s Day. I think most of the population had the same idea, and it turned out to be a circus and not at all relaxing. I am not a fan of the buffet, which is so widely accepted for the brunch menu. I get overwhelmed by the abundance of choices and end up putting a little bit of everything on my plate and then don’t really enjoy any of it. We decided to try going out to dinner the next year, which turned out to be an equally stressful experience. Even with a reservation we waited over an hour to be seated. The kids were restless, and I could hardly blame them.

Last year, I was treated to a delicious breakfast made by Joe and Alec. They know my favorite breakfast is eggs benedict and found a recipe on the Internet. They checked to make sure they had all the ingredients and secretly planned to surprise me. The only problem was, they had taken some ham from the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost. I found it in the fridge and thought it must have been put there by accident and put it back in the freezer. When they went to make my Mother’s Day breakfast, the ham was frozen solid. They overcame the setback and defrosted it in the microwave. The outcome was the best eggs benedict I’ve ever had. I was surprised because hollandaise sauce is not easy to make. This year, I will make sure not to put anything back in the freezer, just in case they want to make it for me again.

My favorite part of Mother’s Day, besides being treated to homemade breakfast, is the cards the kids make from the heart. They usually bring tears to my eyes, and I proudly display them and then put them in safekeeping to look back on someday when they are all grown. Alec, being in seventh grade now, probably won’t have the opportunity to make a card at school. I anticipate listening to Joe nagging Alec to make me a card on the morning of Mother’s Day. Alec tends to procrastinate and does not know how to hurry anything. He is meticulous, and a simple card could take hours to make.

I look forward to spending the day with my family. And the only thing I ask for Mother’s Day is no fighting (and maybe an oriole feeder that I have been looking for). If the kids start to bicker, I remind them this is my only wish. Joe will be home all day because the softball league has been kind enough not schedule any games on Mother’s Day. Hopefully, the weather will be good and we can do something outside.

Maybe mothers do not expect a return for their devotion, but do it anyway. Get up early and put some coffee on. Have the kids make cards the day before, so she doesn’t have to listen to any nagging. Make her favorite breakfast and clean up the kitchen afterward. Take the opportunity to show her your gratitude for the selfless things she has done for you. And, remember, you don’t have to wait until next Mother’s Day to do it again.

Preheat waffle iron. In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Stir in milk, butter, sour cream and egg yolks until mixture is smooth. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Spray preheated waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden; serve hot with honey butter.

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and cook over low heat until melted. Serve hot over waffles and garnish with fresh whipped cream.

Kristen Elliott lives in Carver with her husband, Joe, and two sons, Alec and Kyle. Feel free to send questions, comments or topic ideas to kriselliott37@yahoo.com.