Comedian Jeff Dunham posted a series of Mother's Day E-cards on his YouTube page. This isn't my favorite of the six, but it's the one I feel most comfortable posting here.

Oh, and that thing is Peanut. And, well, I don't know what he is.

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Is your best friend a single mom? Mother’s Day is a great time to let a hardworking single mom know you appreciate her, and you don’t have to run to the mall to do it.

My top 7 gifts for a single mother:

1. A weekend of baby-sitting. Single moms often have very little “Me” time. You can get creative and make your own baby-sitting coupon and stick it in a card.

2. Offer to take some pictures of your friend with her little one, and create a photo collage. I have so many pictures of my daughter, but so few of us together. It’s nice to have someone capture some of those everyday moments.

3. A manicure and pedicure gift certificate. (But again, offer to baby-sit so she doesn’t have to drag the kids to the salon)

4. Get a calendar and fill it with free summer activities for kids happening in the area. Every time that mom is short of ideas she can reach for the calendar.

5. A CD or downloads of inspirational songs that celebrate motherhood. (I like Fantasia’s “Baby Mama”)

6. Offer to help her organize. Homework, bills, junk mail. She might appreciate having someone she trusts help her purge.

7. Cook a few family size meals and zap them in her freezer.

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Mother’s Day is around the corner – May 10 – which gives us this weekend to plan and shop.

I’m a simple gal, so I really don’t want anything. Really.

A nice little kiss on the cheek from each kid, a hug – and I’m happy. Seriously, honest.

For my own mom, I’ll roll out the red carpet – it’s her day. It’s whatever she wants, whatever she wants to do. Typically, I make dinner – whatever she’s in the mood for!

Plants, hand-made cards and family time – all top the list of my favorite gifts I've received.
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Come next Sunday, we’ll be with my parents for some good inter-generational fun! Sure it’s Mother’s Day, and I suppose I could sit one meal preparation out. But frankly, I love to cook! That’s what I want to do and anyway, it’s all about us moms that day.

This year, what’s in your gift bag to Mom?

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Stay-at-moms should be pulling in $117,000 a year, according to a study by Salary.com.

Is this a pittance or a boon? Tell us what you think about stay-at-home moms being worth $117,000 on the free market.

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South Florida mothers talk about their most memorable Mother's Day gifts.

Some of the recollections will make you laugh; one will bring tears to your eyes.

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This Mother's Day is, for me, proof that teen life does not stop for anything – especially not me.

Daughter No. 1 is spending the night with her best friend because they have a big night of watching Supernatural on the TiVo. This is because they have spent the past week in technical rehearsals as crew for the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater production of Seussical and studying for AP exams, and thus were unable to watch their favorite CW show.

Daughter No. 2, the thespian in the family, has roped me into working at the Seussical character brunch on Sunday, so that she can be there to perform as a character. If you go -- and I highly recommend it as a great, inexpensive Mother's Day outing -- you'll see her as Alice in Wonderland. (Horton and the Cat in the Hat will be there, too.) Let it be noted that I signed up to help at the brunch before I knew it was Mother's Day.

In the afternoon, both girls will be in the play. Then they'll help strike the set and head off to the cast party. I figure I'll see them sometime around 9 p.m.

So, instead of lounging around the house reading the New York Times all Sunday morning and eating breakfast cooked for me by my daughters (who actually can cook), I will be serving food to other moms and not seeing my own kids.

The day gets better after the brunch, though. My husband has promised me lunch at my favorite sushi restaurant. The kids have rides to the cast party and home again, so I am saved from the interminable carpool.

After all those years of hovering like Horton over his egg, this might be the best Mother's Day yet. Once the morning is over, I get to rest, relax and pretend I have no kids.

Martini anyone?

More ideas on how to spend Mom's Day.

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