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💐 3 "Plays" to Lift from Mother's Day

💐 3 "Plays" to Lift from Mother's Day

There's a lot of good to learn from a Hallmark Holiday

Michael Hatfield
May 11, 2025

Gif by Runninglateclub on Giphy

What if the best parts of today became your everyday partnership?

Moms reading this, I’m not going to say too much on Mother’s Day. B/c I’m going to trust that your husband will tell you some of the unique ways that you are an amazing mother. I’m going to assume he will make you feel special as a woman and his wife, in addition to the other hugely important (but chronologically last) role you stepped into.

And I’ll assume he also reads this, isn’t tone deaf, and takes a hint 😅.

Since this newsletter helps couples put their relationship back in the front seat while grinding at work and parenting, let me steer us back there.

I'm cynical about Hallmark holidays. But they do encapsulate behaviors worth adopting year-round. What's being celebrated today should be celebrated more regularly, modestly, and genuinely—not just on one card-company-dictated day.

So let’s take a few of those concepts and run with them for one another. When it’s not Whoever’s Day. Let’s just make it an awesome intentional life.

Know any hard-working parents out there? Help them out! Forward this email or sign them up for the weekly newsletter. Forward it to your HR team or Parent ERG leader at your place of work. We can support every couple in your organization. And word of mouth is currently our best growth tool to serve more. Thank you!

The Hidden Pattern In Today’s Celebration

Giphy

So what are those core tenants you’ll likely notice on a day like Mother’s Day? They indirectly follow the 5 languages of love pretty closely, just all condensed into a single day:

Intentional Time → Making space to recognize what matters
Acts of Service → Giving back to those who typically serve others
Breaking Routine → Stepping outside the normal patterns
Creating Space → Allowing genuine self-care (not just chore/work catch-up)

Let’s take the good from today (minus the insanity and overbookings at restaurants), and extend it into opportunities over the next 4-8 weeks that get the good vibes for both giver and recipient. I’ll guarantee us all that what these days came to be are actually meant to be how we show appreciation to each other and ourselves throughout the year.

If you read this newsletter often, what I’m imploring you to do here will be no surprise. It isn’t rocket science and it isn’t new. It’s about intention and execution. And the hope is that this is the weekly newsletter that gets you to act. If you’re a DIY’er, set it up yourself. Or, you can act and signup for Appairent b/c…this is what we do.

Schedule some Self-Care…for your Spouse
But for your spouse, not you. And I sincerely hope you’ve signed them up for the newsletter. B/c I want you both to do it for each other. That’s the giving contest at work!

While I believe in folks putting their oxygen mask on first, it’s such a classier move for you to make it available to them.

Block 2 hours in an evening for them, or schedule to bounce from work a few hours early to give them the afternoon off in the start of Summer.

Date Night Blocker
On your way to brunch, dinner, or whatever celebration ask the non-driver to pull out the calendar.

Just like celebrating your person on Whatever’s Day, celebrating your actual relationship without a milestone is so worth it. Something to look forward to, and something worth celebrating.

Find a night to block for a date night in the next 4-8 weeks.

Summer’s upon us and it’s a funny one. Plenty of family/parenting opportunities…but we once made it to end of summer and realized we hadn’t made a single night for us.

Buy an Extra Card…
Hallmark makes me vomit, but gets one thing right: In a world of content overload, cards give space for authentic affirmation (and never about what their stupid card says by default).

Pickup an extra card or two.

And it might sound cheesy to you, but put 2 dates on the calendar to give them…when the alert pops up I bet you’ll have something unique and nice to say.

Celebrate, Authentically.

Let me be clear: let’s ALL go enjoy THIS day in support of moms and where appropriate recognize what a big role that plays to a wife. At first I don’t love that Mother’s Day is one mass celebration that’s a bit forced. But I chose to change my perspective, and I’m going to legitimately enjoy celebrating my wife and my son’s mother.

Giving a gift, breaking bread in a special place, adding some intentional words of affirmation, and serving those we love…that’s truly a joy.

And it’s a joy to the giver that creates more joy for the receiver. It’s part of the giving contest that can make this world and your relationship the best place to be. We can’t spend every hour of every day doing this, but isn’t this a core part of our mission? For years I got the script flipped, but we can flip it back (and excel in both).

So enjoy today, and let’s challenge ourselves and each other to find ways- big and small - to do some of it again before the next Whatever’s Day.

🍻 ,

Hat