This year Mom’s going to get cheated. There’s just no way around it. I’m scheduled to attend SAP’s SAPphire user conference in Orlando, Fla., next week, and since the Monday keynote starts at 8:30 a.m., I’ll be flying down Sunday night (Mother’s Day).

Thanks Mom! Here’s your flowers! Now can you drive me to the airport?

I’m exaggerating, of course, but only slightly.

Nonetheless, I will not be spending as much time with Mom as I should, but the one consolation is that I’ll be hanging with David Lee Roth and the rest of Van Halen when the conference ends Wednesday night. Not to put any pressure on the boys from VH, but Salesforce.com last year had Metallica at its conference in San Francisco, and they rocked.

This time of year there’s no shortage of marketing hype around Mother’s Day. Marketing gurus of all type and ilk are all over the place making suggestions, telling us what our mothers really want this year: what to cook for them, which restaurants to take them to, which spa to book for them, how much candy is too much, and whether the pink roses or the white ones will get you in good standing with the woman who suffered through 20 hours of labor to bring you into the world.

This time of year is actually a marketer’s dream. Between Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduations, First Holy Communions, weddings, birthdays, and a slew of other family events, marketers are certainly busy telling us what to buy, and analyzing sales patterns to help us pick out the perfect gifts.

Mom, here’s a picture of David Lee Roth. Sorry it’s a few days late.