Honoring moms has been a labor of love for a John W. Decas Elementary School teacher and her students, who have set aside a special tea party before Mother’s Day for the past 13 years.

On Thursday, students in Patricia Nelson’s class once again treated their mothers and motherly figures before the big day, Sunday, May 8.

Nelson, who has spent 19 years at the elementary school, hosts the event alongside fellow teacher Patrick Roche, a 22-year veteran at Decas Elementary.

More than 40 mothers showed up for a night filled with “oh’s” and “aw’s.”

“Moms, you’re going to take a seat,” said Roche. “Your child will take care of all your needs.”

With nearly a dozen homemade desserts to choose from, the children placed their orders to Roche and Nelson, who served all the food. Afterwards, the children read aloud letters they wrote to their moms.

Nelson described the celebration starting off “as a vague idea” inspired by teachers that she knows. It took off and the two teachers have been doing this since 2004.

“We even wrote letters to our own moms that year,” said Nelson. Both teachers’ moms have attended all of the parties through the years and were present on Thursday, wearing tiaras.

Each year, Nelson and Roche use their own funds, supplies, and time to make the day successful. They begin planning weeks before, baking days in advance and spending extra time with students to help them finish their projects for their mothers.

Still, Nelson says it’s the students that do most of the work.

“They each write, edit and revise their own letters to their moms,” she said. “They pot a plant for them and wrap up little tissues, just in case [their mothers] start to cry.”

Each child rewrote a page of “The Important Book” by Margaret Wise Brown and the pages were displayed on a wall. They retitled the collection “The Important Thing About My Mom.” Nelson described it as being “written like poetry.”

At the end of the night, Nelson and Roche had a message for their own mothers: “Everything I am, I am because of you.”