"She's not my mother. I don't need to get her a Mother's Day gift."

If you're a guy who thinks this way about your wife -- like my dad does -- you'd better be smart enough not to actually say it.

While it's true that guys have plenty of other moments to shine -- such as birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, etc. -- it would be a mistake to ignore Mother's Day altogether.

If nothing else, at least make sure your children don't forget about Mom. Help them out with gift ideas (and spending money). But a gift from you isn't a bad idea, either.

Luckily, it seems many men realize this. A survey from the National Retail Federation found that 42.6 percent of men bought a Mother's Day gift for their wife last year.

OK, fine, so you're convinced that you'd better pony up and get your wife a gift. But what?

A 2001 survey of 300 women from WishList.com found that the most popular romantic Mother's Day gifts were flowers, a weekend getaway and jewelry.

Other items mentioned included a nice dinner out, lingerie, diamonds, and a spa/massage. Only three respondents out of 300 wished for sex.

But your gift doesn't have to come in a wrapped-up box. Here are five ways to show your wife that you appreciate the job she does as a mother.

--Get the kids out of her hair. Take them out of the house and let your wife have some alone time with her favorite Lifetime movie or romance novel.

--Send her out of the house for a while. Encourage her to go out to lunch with friends or spend the day at the spa. Then you can take charge of caring for the kids and fixing dinner.

--Finish that home project she's been asking you to do. It might not seem romantic, but fixing that door hinge or cleaning up the basement -- after she's been asking you to do it for months -- would be a huge gift. Along the same lines ...

--Clean the house for her. In this day and age, maybe the man in your family already does his share of cleaning. But if it's the woman who generally cleans in your home, surprise her with a spotless house. Get the kids to pitch in for a bigger surprise.

--Get a sitter. When's the last time you had a date night? Even if it's just dinner and a movie, get your lady love out of the house and into some adult conversation. Or, if you really want to "wow" her, book a hotel room for an overnight adventure.

If you still scoff at the idea of getting your wife a gift on her special day, just remember: Father's Day is right around the corner ... and she could ignore you, too.