Mother’s Day is less than 2 weeks away (it’s on May 10th – for you delinquent children out there!) and the stress of what to do for my mom is upon me.  Plus, most of us have multiple “mothers” in our lives that we need to plan for:  step-mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law, and the list goes on…

In my household, the responsibility of planning gifts for both my & my husband’s family members usually falls mostly on me.  So, I thought I’d share our process for handling it…

1. Add the upcoming holiday/birthday to a shared calendar & set a reminder for 2 weeks in advance
2. Make a list of gift ideas, including last year’s gift on the list (including cost estimates)
3. Discuss (either in-person, via email/chat or via comments on the list) our thought on the git ideas, until we narrow in on what we’ll buy
4. Purchase & send gifts

The list itself can be a written list, a typed list (like in an email or a chat window), or just a mental list to be discussed.  While this process seems pretty straightforward to me, I wonder if other people go through this same sort of decision making.

This year, I’m making the list in springpad & asking my husband to add his thoughts there…

While springpad has surely been helpful for more complex gift-giving events (like Christmas), and it’s been a lifesaver for keeping track of all of our home-renovation projects, I wonder if using springpad to brainstorm & decide on Mother’s Day gifts will be overkill.  We’ll see.

Will using springpad to plan Mother’s Day simplify my life? I’ll let you know.