Flowers and potted plants as gifts are pretty much synonymous with Mother’s Day. But your mom is so special, why should you give her such an unoriginal present? After all, she was nice enough to give you the gift of life.

If your mom has a green thumb or genuinely enjoys plants and flowers, then stop at the flower shop on your way to see her.

But if you get her flowers every year, spring for an additional gift or something different this year. Make her feel special by doing something outside the norm. 

Brunch

You’ll never be able to make up for the countless meals your mother has provided for you over the years. Throughout much of your childhood, she likely gave you the good piece of chicken, and she suffered through cold suppers after serving everybody else.

A Mother’s Day brunch shows just a teensy fraction of the gratitude you owe the woman who raised you, but it’s an important gesture.

What mother doesn’t love brunch? You can basically eat what you want, and it’s perfectly acceptable to drink mid-morning as long as it’s in the form of a mimosa.

Several formal and casual restaurants nationwide are offering special Mother’s Day deals, menu options and buffets you can treat her to or you can put some extra love in the meal by preparing a delicious feast from scratch.

Recipe scrapbook

OK, so chances are that by now your mom doesn’t need to look at the recipe scribbled on an index card or worn down piece of paper to make the family’s favorite dishes. But you can still take the instructions and make a neat gift for Mom.

There are countless ways to make the old recipes into a new cookbook with a scrapbook twist.

Let the creative juices flow and pair the recipes with photos of the family chowing down at a holiday gathering years ago; add space so the family can write it tweaks to the ingredients; or write in a funny or touching family story that may involve the meal.

If your own child is a new mom, a fun twist would be to pass along family recipes in a scrapbook format. Share the origins of the dish, words of wisdom and space for them to add their own creations.

Let’s get digital

Your parents took a ton of video of you as a kid, but pulling out the projector is too complicated or your mom doesn’t have a VCR anymore.

It’s easier and cheaper than ever to convert all those reels and VHS tapes to a more convenient format.

A lot of chain stores that print photos like CVS and Walgreens also have the tools to convert 8mm, Super 8, 16 mm, VHS, Betamax, MiniDV and other videotapes to DVD.

If your mother is tech-friendly, converting the movies to a flash drive or some other digital file will make it easier for her to not only watch the footage, but share it with the rest of the family.

Book of memories/lessons

You thought you hated your mom when she grounded you for doing that stupid thing in high school. You thought she just didn’t understand.

Now that you’re out of your angst phase, you realize you’re the one who didn’t understand.

Being a mom is often a tough and thankless job, especially during those awful teenage years. She normally had a good reason behind her actions, and it would probably mean a lot to her to know what lessons stuck with you to adulthood.

Fire up the computer or grab a journal to pen the most important memories and lessons your mother ever gave your.

Thank her for the ultimate gift of guidance.

Details for this story were provided by The Anderson (Ind.) Herald Bulletin.