Mother's Day Plans - Los Angeles,CA

ETA: My mom lived on the other side of the country and is now dead. My MIL is dead and lived in Boston. We NEVER did anything for Mother's day with them. We sent flowers.

Up until 8 years ago, we went into DC and walked around the Mall - they had a "public service celebration" and all of the US military branches would set up things on the Mall and show people and kids how to operate things, see the Air Force 1 helicopter and much more.... it was great to see my boys light up with awe!

Now? We go out for brunch and we "chill" at home.

Since we have moved to Georgia? My MIL and I go out on Saturday for a manicure/pedicure. Then we go shopping.

The men make us a meal Sunday afternoon. We sit back and enjoy.

Fathers day? Tyler and his brothers go out shooting.

My husband and son take me to the Mothers Day plant sale at the Botanical Gardens, we smell the roses in the rose garden, look at lots of flowers and I get plants for my garden, and plant them when we get home.

I never met my MIL so I wasn't faced with this issue.

We also live a plane ticket away from my mother.

I don't understand why you couldn't invite your MIL and celebrate together. Makes sense to me.

We have always gone to brunch at the country club which is the best brunch of the year and sold out within 24 hours of opening reservations. I have reservations for my daughter, myself and 2 of her friends. I asked her if she wanted to go to the club because we're still pretty raw after my husband died 28 months ago. She said we always do this, it's our tradition!!!

Last year I flew my mom and stepdad out for a visit over Mother's Day weekend and I invited my uncle and his wife to join us (2hour drive) so my mom could visit with them. In October, that aunt passed away so
I'm glad we all had a good visit together.

If you're on good terms and you are hosting, I'd invite whomever I wanted to invite to celebrate.

I spend the day with my husband and kids, we usually go to an annual community yard sale event in one of the city neighborhoods that is always held on Mother's Day and wander around for a long time if the weather is nice. The organizers have a fundraising food stand so we grab something to eat there.

In advance, I mail cards and sometimes a small gift to my mom, stepmom, mother in law, and grandmother. I call them on Mother's Day morning.

My mom and grandmother are close enough that I could see them if I chose, but I prefer to do that on days where "everybody and their mother" isn't out clogging up roads and making lines in restaurants just because the calendar says they should. For the same reason, I never go out for dinner on Valentine's Day.

When we all lived closer together and my mom and MIL were in better health, we often celebrated it together at my home and also invited my husband's siblings, as well as mine, if they were of a mind to join us. Now that we are more spread apart, but my mom still lives very close, I usually spend the day with her and my husband spends the day with his mom (he drives up early that morning and drives back late that night). If our moms are busy, my husband does something with just me :) Sometimes we do Saturday with the moms and Sunday is for me. It really depends on everyone's schedule.

We try not to stress out about it or make a huge deal about it.

Good luck!

If they were both here I would want to celebrate all together, that sounds like a lovely idea. If your SIL also has a mother/MIL she would like to invite maybe you could do that as well?

This year our family, my siblings and their families, are all going to see my mom as she is not well, and lives away. Looking forward to it. We all get along like close friends.

My husband has a strained relationship with his mother. So we typically see her the day before Mother's Day or sometime that week and do a visit.

For me, we do a fun day - usually a family thing - and we're into experiences. Nothing fancy just spending time together.

We will probably visit my MIL on Saturday night. We are planning a bike ride on Mother's Day and I typically go out to lunch one day during the week with my mom since she is typically down the shore for Mother's Day.

Although it's been 16 years since my son's death and I try to focus on my girls and how lucky I am to have them, I am still always grateful when the day is over.

I think it would be really nice to celebrate all together. I don't understand where your SIl is coming from.

My husband and I don't live in the same state as our moms. We usually mail them cards and a gift. Sometimes flowers and sometimes a small gift of something we think they would like. They get equal treatment. For mother's day we usually do a family hike. One year I asked to go camping for mother's day and we went up to an alpine lake campsite. It was wonderful. One year my husband and kids took me to buy a gazillion flowers and then we spent the afternoon planting them in all our garden beds around the house. One year we went out for a mother's day lunch and live music at the outside patio of The Cowgirl, one of my favorite restaurants! I think inviting your in-laws for a family brunch is wonderful. I think doing it all together (your mom and your MIL) is inclusive and loving. Give them both a nice gift too! Make it special! :)

It doesn't really matter how others do it. I would say you need to consider the particular parties involved. If it were MY mother and MIL, there would be some competition going on. Nothing overt, but there would definitely be some stuff going on under the surface, at least in one direction. They get along great! But they would be jealous of having to share those moments/that time and not get to "claim" it all to themselves.

I don't know your mom or MIL, so I have no idea if something like that would be an issue. Maybe your sister knows or recognizes something that you don't see. But look at the people and consider if THEY would want to share the time, or would rather have you (you, your husband, their grandkids) all to themselves for a few hours, or wouldn't feel in some way *cheated* by sharing "their" day with the other. I've seen it and it isn't pretty. Maybe that wouldn't be the case with your mom and MIL. I can't say.

Our families get along and enjoy each other. We've had the big mother's day party together in the past. Sometimes we get stuck choosing who we want to spend the day with and it sucks. I live in Florida - last year my husband, son, and I went to the beach for a few hours and then whoever wanted to come over our house did. I hate picking one mom over the other and doing something special for her. You could always do it 1 mom visit on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Is your SIL trying to set up something with her family, you, her Mom? Are you inviting your SIL to your house with your MIL? If I understand your question correctly, I think you need to consider how to include all or do something as a group with your MIL. Whatever you do, have a lovely Mother's Day.

sad to say, but for me and my family its just another day. yeah we exchange cards and i get mom a gift but other than that nothing special