I was always listening for clues as to what she might like to have. One year it was a huge box of hairpins. Another year it was blue bottle of Evening in Paris perfume. Once I gave her a really cool coconut, with a hand-carved face on it, teeth and all. Every year she would open the gifts with such enthusiasm that I was convinced I had given her the crown jewels.
Mothers are like that.
It was a place she kept things to be used only on special occasions. I am sure that coconut head is still in the drawer, since I don't remember any occasion special enough for her to hang it up. My mother made that ritual as much a part of Mothers' Day as the gifts themselves. Mothers are like that, too. They recognize the giver much more than the gift.