With Mother’s Day fast approaching, searching for that ideal gift poses one big challenge. Skyrocketing inflation compounded by continued hikes in crude prices has turned cost into a major consideration.

Stores big and small are now enticing gift-hunters with just about anything – from the cute to the fabulous. Restaurants too are sprucing up.

For some Filipinos, cost hardly factors as an issue. Cecille Yap, a doting daughter, quips: “Mothers are priceless, so it doesn’t matter if times are hard.”

This year, as in previous years, she will still make time to buy something for her mother. She doesn’t mind purchasing something more expensive, thanks largely to a bigger disposable income.

Those who feel the constraints of rising fuel and food prices, however, are resorting to more creative gifts. Koni Macapagal, 28 and single, plans to stay the whole day at home with her mom.

“Time with her is something that I have not been giving lately. I’m like a boarder in the house,” she proffers with a guilty grin. She feels this gesture will be better appreciated than the unforgettable little things she had given in previous years.

Edwin Galvez, a marketing consultant, will take the trip home to Bulacan to be with his mom. Still a bachelor at 38, a weekend retreat helping his mother around the house would complement nicely with potted plants as a gift. In past years, he gave her cards and flowers.

“We're not a ‘formal’ family so we really don't give a fuss about celebrating Mother's Day. I think individually we would greet Mom and that's it,” Edwin explains.

Mothers, on the other hand, see the occasion more as an opportunity to be with the whole family. Chit Arce, a mother of two but married for 27 years, looks forward to having the favorite family recipes for the special day’s lunch – this time cooked by the children.

Chit bemoans the commercialism that has replaced the simplicity of the occasion. “We used to go out to celebrate the day but there are just too many people out there now. I don’t enjoy the traffic and the crowded restaurants, movie houses, etc.”

Rochelle Hilario, a young mother of two boys, is also opting to stay away from the malls this year, but more because she recognizes these are indeed tough times. Her wish is to have some meaningful family time at home.

Rochelle looks forward to jazz music, candlelight, with her favorite book – The Art of War for Women – while blissfully having a hot bubble bath and no one knocking on the door to hurry her up. She relishes Mother’s Day as “the only day in the year that I have everyone in the family at my beck and call.”

Many may manage to keep the celebration simple this year (and in the process save a few precious pesos), but expect little restraint on the use of “text” messages. Mobile phones and even land lines will be exceptionally busy especially among families who have a kin or two working abroad.

For most families of Filipinos working overseas, the long-distance phone call could be the day’s highlight as the handset is passed on from one family member to another.

For Rocky Dimaculangan, a Na-tay or single parent, Mother’s Day presents the perfect opportunity for his three children to call up their mom who resides abroad. He has gotten used to the ritual of routing the kids for that all-important Mother’s Day call, his former wife having been out of the country for six years now.

For the more sophisticated, chatting via the Internet or doing an eyeball using a webcam is the preferred alternative to the standard phone call. This time, everyone gathers within view of the computer camera, each one trying to converse with the other party across cyberspace.

It seems that nothing can keep Filipinos from feting Moms on Mother’s Day, even if hard times call for just a simple hug.