I can't imagine many Dads in floods of tears because they didn't get a lovely, thoughtful Father's Day card. At least, not the men I've known & loved.
I learnt from my DH that although most men (and I include boys) want to please the women in their lives, they really don't get that flowers & cards & stuff really, really matter to us. They're not telepathic, they have different priorities and they need steering.
My DH said one of the most unfair, annoying things women do is to expect "spontaneous romantic gestures" and then to get really stroppy when you don't read their minds. He'd been told "If you really loved me, you'd know I wanted you to...(whatever it was)" Whereas most men are clueless about this sort of detail. They also hate no knowing what to get.
The way to get the Mother's Day you hope for, or at least the way that works for me, is to make sure my DSs know exactly how to make me beam at them and feel cherished, which is what they want.
I reminded my DSs that Mother's Day was today at least twice last week and told them that though the card's the most important thing, I'd also love a bunch of red or yellow tulips and that breakfast in bed with the papers is my idea of a great surprise. 
They know I love chocolate.
Come the day, they know I'll be delighted, they're happy to see me happy and feeling appreciated. Result all round. I make a big thing about their card: I read out the message, I tell them how lovely it is, how well chosen and I keep it up in my bedroom for a couple of months. Then I put it in my memory box. That way they know how much the card means to me. My DSs spoil me on Mother's Day, but only because I've shown them how.