"There is a website right now that tells me the perfect Mother’s Day gift is a hive of bees, which is exactly the gift you’d send to your enemy. A Facebook ad suggested what mothers like me really want this year is a subscription to a hot sauce of the month club. A blogger I follow suggested gifting mothers with a sourdough starter, the perfect gift in a pandemic.

"It’s exactly what a mother needs: something else that requires constant feeding and tending to and will never say “thank you.”

"A Facebook group I belong to is filled with mothers who all recently confessed that what they want for Mother’s Day this year is to hide in a room, away from all the want and need and reaching fingers, to tuck themselves away into a locked corner of the house with a chamber pot and a bottle of booze and unlimited access to Netflix and snacks."

"What do you want for Mother's Day?" my daughter, 30, asked. "You're so particular."

I laughed and winced at the same time. "I need new sheets," I replied. "Cotton, high thread count and a solid, gem-tone color."

"Send me a link," Claire replied. Done. On sale, too.

Most of all, I love Claire's heartfelt, loving cards. She writes about how much she loves and appreciates me. Like a sentimental sap, I treasure and save every card she sends.

[nbcnews.com]