Parents’ Day Ideas Guaranteed to Make Mom and Dad SMILE

Nobody knows you as well as your mom and dad. They gave you life and dedicated themselves to raising you. They’ve probably done more for you than anyone else in the world. Celebrating Parents’ Day is one way to show them how much you care. 

Many cities and communities around the country are working hard to find parents they can recognize for being good examples. They are the parents who stand out as exceptional and remind us of what we should aspire to be. You may want to consider nominating your parents for Parents of the Year.

Keep reading while I explore several heartwarming ideas that can help you celebrate your love and appreciation for your parents and celebrate Parents’ Day.

• Every Mom and Dad Deserves Thanks
• Make a Home-Cooked Meal to Show How Much You Care
• Use Parents’ Day to Build Stronger Bonds
  • Host a Surprise Barbeque
  • Make Homemade Brunch
  • Clean Their House
  • DIY Decorations
  • Make a Homemade Card
  • Make Friends With New Parents
  • Get Personalized Gifts

Every Mom and Dad Deserves Thanks

At some point in your life, you’ve had a conflict with your parents. This can make it harder to show them the appreciation they deserve. No matter how good or bad they were, without them, you wouldn’t be here. They sacrificed decades to raise you and help you grow into who you are today.

In 1994, congress made the fourth Sunday of July the official day to recognize our parents. Local committees in many communities have been formed and are made up of volunteers, public officials, teachers, and other prominent members of the community. If you have the time, volunteering to help on Parents’ Day is a great way to give back to your community.  

Not every parent is actually related to you. In many cases, the person who took care of you and raised you to adulthood may not have been your biological parent. These people are moms and dads too, and they deserve special praise for helping out when it wasn’t strictly their job. They volunteered to step up when a biological parent could not. This is a noble choice. Parents’ Day is an opportunity to show your appreciation and let all of your parents know how much you care. 

Personalized gifts are a great way to show your parents that you really care and want them to feel special. You can probably come up with some very thoughtful gifts your mom and dad will appreciate. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, either. It really is the thought that counts. 

Make a Home-Cooked Meal to Show How Much You Care

When you’re a kid, you don’t always appreciate eating what Mom cooked for you. Once you’re out on your own, it’s easier to see how good you had it. Most of my comfort foods are homemade recipes my mother created for us. 

My mother loves it when I take her out to lunch, but I also like to cook for my parents. My mother taught me how to cook, and I know she’s proud every time I make food for her and my dad. There’s something magical about inviting my mom and dad into my home and feeding them a delicious meal that I made myself. It shows them that they did a good job in raising me, and helps them feel safe that I can take care of myself. 

My parents still worry about me. Showing them I can cook and take care of myself while sharing a meal with them calms their fears and makes them proud. I’ve often used healthy brunch ideas to show them that I can be healthy while indulging in delicious foods at the same time. Sharing these meals with my parents has helped us strengthen our sense of family togetherness.

Don’t forget to include your grandparents. Your parents are who they are because of their parents. Strengthening intergenerational bonds can create happy and fulfilling experiences. Your grandparents are a source of knowledge and wisdom that transcends the generations. Your grandparents have valuable lessons to teach you, and they can give you insights and funny stories about your parents. 

Your parents and grandparents have worked hard to make your life possible. Take every opportunity to celebrate them and thank them for all their hard work.  

Use Parents’ Day to Build Stronger Bonds

There are a lot of different things you can do to celebrate Parents’ Day. You can:

• Host a Surprise Barbeque

Invite all their friends over for a summer party with good food and lots of laughs. It’s a great way to help them strengthen their own friendships, and you may be able to reconnect with people you haven’t seen in years. 

• Make Homemade Brunch

If barbeque isn’t their thing, you can do brunch instead and make mimosas. Brunch can be relaxing and intimate and is a great way to pass the morning. 

• Clean Their House

This isn’t as much fun as some of the other ideas, but few gifts are as thoughtful. Cleaning their home is a thoughtful way to help out that also shows them how well they raised you. Even parents who don’t want you to touch certain rooms or objects can benefit from a cleaning visit.

• DIY Decorations

DIY home decorations can create a feeling of intimacy and togetherness that you can’t get from mass-produced ornaments. If your family has a history of being crafty, an evening spent making ornaments and decorations can be very special. 

• Make a Homemade Card

When you put time and effort into making something yourself, it often carries a deeper meaning. A store-bought card may end up in the trash, but something you made yourself is more likely to stick around for years to come. Simple reminders of intimate family connections can be a source of happiness and joy, especially when you are feeling down. You can even spice it up with a gift card to their favorite restaurant or to Amazon.com.

• Make Friends With New Parents

If there is a new mom in your family or circle of friends, Parents’ Day is a golden opportunity to reach out and show them your support. It’s never too early to celebrate parents. The stronger the bond between parents and children, the healthier the family will be.

• Get Personalized Gifts

A fun way to let Dad know you care is to get him one of the many subscription boxes for men. They introduce an element of surprise while still focusing on things that men are more likely to enjoy. You could even make a habit of being present when he opens his box and turn it into a time of togetherness. For Mom, you can decorate the house or make her a scrapbook. If she already does scrapbooking, you could spend a few hours of quality time helping her out.

Is your relationship with your parents good enough? Maybe you’ve been a little more distant lately or things have gotten awkward. As politics and society change, sometimes it’s harder to not fight and keep as close as you should. 

I recommend using Parents’ Day to either reconnect with your parents or forge stronger bonds. If you haven’t seen them in a while, Parents’ Day is the perfect opportunity. Put it on your calendar today, and give Mom and Dad a call!