One of my grandmother’s long-treasured Mother’s Day Gifts was a framed poem, done in cross-stitch, which was given to her by one of her daughters-in-law. I know poetry makes a great Mother’s Day present, as many is the year I have given my mother poems as gifts, too. And as a stepmother, I know how often we are forgotten on Mother’s Day, and how nice it would be to receive a little poem. To that end, I decided to share some poems that can be printed (or cross-stitched!) and framed for Mothers’ Day gifts this year, one each for a mother, a mother-in-law, and stepmother. The mother-in-law can easily be used for a stepmother, too, with just a small title change and the stepmother one can be used for a mother-in-law, using the indicated substitutions.
Whether you plan just to print it or to use it for a cross-stitch pattern*, I recommend that you copy it into a word processing program first, so you can play around with font and color and so forth. I would naturally appreciate it if you would add my name to the bottom when you print it off, but more importantly, if you do end up using one of these, I really hope you will leave me a comment and let me know how your (step)mother(-in-law) liked it!
For My Amazing Mother
Even before the first moment,
When you held me in your embrace,
You made countless sacrifices –
With such love and astounding grace;
Everyone has a mother,
But few are as lucky as me,
To have such a great role model
As my mother happens to be;
Aren’t enough words in the language,
To tell you how much you are loved,
But mothers like you are blessings,
That come to us straight from above.
For A Special Mother-in-Law
You welcomed me into your family
With your arms flung open wide;
Transitions aren’t usually so easy,
But you took it all in your stride;
You were always loving and kind to me,
So I call you “Mom” with pride.
Stepmothers Aren’t Wicked (Alt: Mothers-in-Law Aren’t Evil)
I know now thanks all to you
That those old tall tales aren’t true
You’re not some dreadful “others,” (alt: You’re not some awful “others”)
You’re just one “step” from mothers! (alt: You’re just “in-lawed” Mothers!)
*Tips for making a cross-stitch pattern: Copy the whole poem and paste into an imaging program, such as Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop, using the text tool.
