The first Mother's Day

The first one is different from the rest

This year the date changes sides: the person who always celebrated becomes the one being celebrated, or celebrates again with one more person in the photo. It is a turning point that only happens once, and it is worth recording as a turning point, not as another Sunday.

Ideas that do not depend on money

• The photo of three generations together, if you can. It is the one most missing from family collections.
• Her hand painted with washable paint, stamped on paper with the date.
• A letter written by the other adult in the house, on the child's behalf, telling the story of the first year.
• A recording of the child, even without a single word, kept with the date.
• Breakfast in bed, with her in the middle of the mess.

The photo that is almost always missing

Whoever takes the photos rarely appears in them. Ask, on the day, for someone to photograph you with her: not the posed photo, the one of the two of you doing something. If there is nobody, use the timer and prop the phone up.

Repeat it every year

The same pose, the same place, every Mother's Day. Five years later, that series is the present.