Puzzling With Mom - A Piece By Mandy

My last blog entry was about puzzling with children, which is often a challenge. As Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday, I thought it would be appropriate to write about puzzling with our mothers.

I am fortunate enough to see my mom often, and she is not a person who would do a puzzle on her own. However, since I started my puzzle journey, she is always happy to sit down at the table to help me with a puzzle and gets so excited when she finds pieces that click.

As always in my research, I found stories that inspired me. Although many puzzlers have lost their moms, they have puzzles that they used to share with or belonged to their mothers. They continue to do them as a way of bonding and cherishing the memories.

We share traditions. We do the same puzzles every year and always let our mothers place the last piece. We compete. We race each other to see who will finish faster or hide pieces from each other just to laugh. We play fight over who will get to do a certain section. We buy each other puzzles that remind us of things we have done and places we have been.

I read of a 4^th generation puzzler whose great grandmother started the family tradition. Her grandmother always had a puzzle going and a floor to ceiling stack in the closet. My little girl does her 48-piece puzzles and says she is “just like mommy”. I hope that she continues and will remember my love of puzzles. I hope we can create a tradition.

With all the craziness going on in the world today, this is a perfect time to connect with one another. Skip the flowers, forget the chocolates, gift a puzzle, and create a memory. Buy an experience that can be renewed and passed on.

Here are a few suggestions that I like for Mother’s Day gift puzzles:

1. Sweet Cupcakes By Eurographics