When it comes to Mother's Day
gift ideas, kids know best
By Mark Oliva, Okinawa bureau
B.R. Sargent / Stars and Stripes
Alison Kamae, 5, works diligently to decorate a planter for her mom. The Yongsan Child
Development Center's pre-kindergarten class spent last Tuesday morning making Mother's Day
gifts. |
CAMP FOSTER
— It’s Mother’s Day morning, Dad, and we know you forgot. So we’re
here to help.
But we
didn’t go this alone. We went to the masters of Mother’s Day gifts —
children. And they put down the construction paper and peeled dried glue from fingers long
enough to give us a hint of what their own moms are getting.
Michael
Rose, a 6-year-old kindergartner at Misawa’s Cummings Elementary School, says Sunday
is pretty well mapped out for his mom, Chris.
"She
doesn’t know it yet; I’ll make sushi for my mom," Michael said. "She
likes it."
The
youngster says he learned how to make sushi from his grandmother living in the States, and
he doesn’t need any help either.
"I
know how to make it by myself, I made sushi for her before; she likes the salmon the
best." And Michael doesn’t prepare salmon sushi for just anyone … he’s
got his own reasons why Mom rates. "Cause she’s nice and she’s
beautiful," he said. "And she makes funny faces that makes me laugh."
Of course,
Chris isn’t above bribery. "I help clean the house, and she gives me $5,"
he said.
Michael
also has a backup plan. He made a card for her after school. But there are a lot of ways
to a mom’s heart, even one thought to be the best way to dad’s.
Andrea
Hickman, 6, Michael’s classmate, says her family plans to take her mom, Sonja, out to
dinner. "We’re going to take her out to Pasta LaVista (an Italian eatery at the
Misawa Air Base golf course). "It’s a surprise, she doesn’t know it
yet," Andrea said.
And why
does mom deserve manicotti? "Because she tickles me and makes me laugh," Andrea
added. Mom gives her lots of hugs, "and she’s nice because she lets me do things
I want to do."
But within
reason, says Andrea. "I do what she tells me to do, mostly."
Red roses
are on order from her dad, Juan.
On Okinawa,
T.J. Mann, the son of Pamela and Marine Staff Sgt. James Mann of Camp Foster, was leaving
with a "Kid’s Meal" from Burger King on Tuesday when he said he’d like
to buy his mother "a car. A big, big car" for Mother’s Day.
That’s
because she’s been so great at giving him really great presents said T.J., who held
up three fingers when asked his age.
Marine
Staff Sgt. Jose Henriquez of Camp Foster took pointers from his son, Emilio 4, at the Camp
Foster Mall shopping with his mom, Edga.
"I’d
buy her a book," he said, looking to his mother for guidance. After a bit of
prompting from her, he added, "I’d buy a novel by Danielle Steele."
What he
liked best about his mom is how she is always there to play with him, Emilio
said."She helps me ride my bike," he said. And he’s hoping to have the
training wheels come off soon.
Mother’s
Day might not shape up to all for Ryan Leon Guerrero, 5, unless his dad steps in.
"Mommy
don’t need no gift. My mommy don’t have no birthday," he said.
But Ryan,
son of Guam Petty Officer 2nd Class Amy Luidhardt and Peter Leon Guerrero, thinks his mom
is the greatest. The greatest thing Ryan said his Mom does is "she lets me eat what I
want." And he does his best to repay her by picking up his room so it’s
"nice and clean."
Some gifts
will tap a mother’s imagination, if Jacob Decker, 6, has his way. The Atsugi Naval
Air Facility kindergartner, said if he could get his mom Carmel any gift, "I’d
get her a dragon and a ball — a big ball that has things in it, like flowers, and a
gold dragon."
But Carmel
deserves imaginative gifts. After all, she’s a mom who makes "macaroni and
broccoli with rice and chicken and vegetables, and some of the good stuff — like
lemonade," Jacob said.
Tensia
Clark, a 5-year-old kindergartner at Atsugi, said she would like to give her mom, Tense,
"a little bear."
Tensia said
the best thing her mom does is give her ice cream.
"She
takes us to the store and she buys us oatmeal and fruit rollups," she gushed. She
also said her mom makes her laugh "when she does funny things, like make a funny
face, when it’s time for bed."
Lashuna
Singleton, 4, is the daughter of Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station, Guam,
Petty Officer 3rd Class Shonda Carvin and her husband Lemar. Lashuna knows flowers are a
sure-fire bet to warm mom’s heart. She said it was the nicest gift she ever gave her.
Of all the
moms she knows, Lashuna’s is the greatest because, "She cooks me food. My
favorite is spaghetti."
Lashuna
already gives her mom a helping hand when she can. She pitches in to make her mom’s
bed and plays with her brother Jerome.
Alex
Attaway, a 5 year-old at Yongsan Garrison’s Child Development Center in Seoul said an
early morning meal was the best gift he’s ever grilled for his mom.
"I
give my Mommy breakfast — sausage and waffles and drinks."
That early
to rise attitude is one Karen Kim’s mom has been helping her learn. And she said
it’s the best thing her mom’s ever done.
"She
always don’t let me got to sleep in school," said the 6-year-old from the
Yongsan Child Development Center.
But
5-year-old Charles Magee of Yongsan disagreed. Staying awake in class can’t hold a
candle to a night in front of the big screen. "She brings me to the movies," he
said approvingly of his mom.
Kirstee
McGarva, a 4-year-old at Yongsan Child Development Center said Mom was vest at the simpler
things in life. "She gives me a card for my birthday," Kirstee said.
Ruthanne
Reiley, 4, of Taegu, stuck with the tried and true method of making a Mother’s Day
card Wednesday along with other pre-schoolers at the Child Development Services Center at
Camp George.
"I
drawed it with crayon," she said, and added a handprint in pink paint. "I call
her (mom) Gummy Bear."
If all else
fails, Dad, grab a bucket of all-weather latex indoor-outdoor paint and start
hand-printing. As for you, Gummy Bear … act surprised.
Wayne
Specht, David Allen, Fred Knapp, Donovan Brooks, B.R. Sargent and Franklin Fisher
contributed to this report.
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