Mothers have changed a lot in the last fifty years, and so has the way we honor them on Mother’s Day. In 1960, the year I was born, more than seventy percent of American households included a stay-at-home mother. By 2000, two thirds of American mothers were in the work force – and many of those were raising children on their own.

Jane Wyatt won an Emmy in 1960 for her role as Margaret Anderson in the television show Father Knows Best, a role that characterized what mothers were like – or thought they should be like - at the time. It’s hard to imagine Margaret Anderson tossing her kids cereal bars for breakfast or foraging through the laundry to find something for them to wear to school as she barks out orders and scurries around getting herself ready for work.

I can’t envision her pumping iron to stay fit or hitting the town for a much needed girl’s night out. But things change. Even Jane Wyatt changed…by 1967, she was playing mother to the half-Vulcan Mr. Spock on Star Trek.

In 1960, mothers might have been treated to breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day and received tasteful gifts like perfume, a pretty pin, or a corsage to wear when they went out for a celebratory dinner. But changes in our society have opened up all kinds of Mother’s Day gift-giving possibilities.

The mothers and grandmothers of today are completely different than they were fifty years ago. Forget rocking chairs and aprons. The women of today – even the senior women of today – tend to do whatever they darned well please. Sure, perfume is still popular, but now we can consider giving our mothers running shoes, samba lessons, or a PDA.

My own 72-year-old mother surprised me recently with the news that she has signed up for a Pilates class. This seems like a bold step indeed for someone whose only exercise for the past thirty years has been walking a dog…but she’s cleared it with her doctor and once I got past the mental image I had of her rolled onto her back like a pill bug with her legs flailing around in the air, it sounded like a great idea.

If she enjoys it, and sticks with it, the class will help her stay fit and strong and maintain her balance. Not only that, but it could spawn a lot of Mother’s Day gift ideas…resistance bands, Pilates balls, and perhaps most appreciated, a gift basket full of bubble bath and massage oils to use after those killer workouts.

Contributed By Laura Weaver