What Should I Buy For Mother's Day?
[ 7 May 2008 ]
This Sunday, the 11th of May, is Mother’s Day. You can call it a Hallmark holiday all you like, but let’s face it — without a mother, none of us would be here in the first place! She deserves a bit of love, & you know it. Here are some ways to show her your appreciation without resorting to old faithful gifts — like a gift pack from The Body Shop or a scented candle!
Write her a letter or card
These days, whenever it’s a birthday, Christmas or Mother’s/Father’s Day, my gift of choice is a card or letter. That might sound like a bit of a cop-out, but really, my parents have everything they need — & anything they want, they’ll get. I can’t add a lot of value to their life by buying them knick-knacks & stuff they’ll never use.
On the flip-side, writing somebody something personal has huge value. I’m not talking about a card that says “Happy Mother’s Day, love Josephine”! You need to make it worthwhile. Sit down, spend an hour, write something meaningful. I like to write to my parents & tell them that I love them, admire them & am grateful for everything they’ve done for me (though of course, I mix it up a lot!). It always means much more to them than a candle or a book ever could.
This article was actually prompted by an email I received from a girl who said that she & her mother didn’t get along very well. She knew she had to do something for mother’s day but felt that her mother had caused her so much pain that the idea of buying her a gift made her grit her teeth. My suggestion was that she write her a card or letter, saying that she knew their relationship wasn’t perfect but that she loved her anyway, & that she hoped that they could work on that. So it doesn’t have to be all sweetness & light — just genuine.
Help her out
Your average mother is an unbelievable multi-tasker, juggler & jack of all trades. She has kids, a career, a lover, a house that seems to self-mess & a billion obstacles to navigate. Imagine you were your mother for a day. How well do you think you’d do? I think I’d be a total flop!
So, why not help lighten the load? Now, you don’t have to do any manual labour yourself if you don’t want to. But you could try hiring a cleaner for a month — they could come in for a few hours every Monday & help get the house in order. You could offer to cook dinner for a week, or if cooking isn’t your forte, you could hire someone to do it for her! You could offer to babysit so that she can go out & do something indulgent & luxurious. Alternatively, you could pay for her to get pampered. What mother wouldn’t want a massage, a manicure or a spa day?
A framed photograph
If you have a good photograph of you & your momma, or even just a nice recent photo of yourself, frame it & wrap a bow around it. Everyone likes evidence of themselves with someone they love having a great time. Bonus points if you use an image editing program to make you both look younger & more beautiful! A little use of the healing & blurring brushes goes a long way!
Sending a photo of yourself is a great option if you live far away from your mother or just don’t see her very often. That way, if you turn up at her door one day, she’ll remember who you are! (Just kidding!)
Something alive
Flowers are nice but they don’t last very long — & all that cutting-the-stems-diagonally, putting-Aspirin-or-sugar-in-the-water stuff is a bit of a drag. Mother’s day is meant to be her day off, after all! If you buy her a potted plant, it’ll be something she can keep for much longer, & every time she looks at it she will be reminded of you, her sublime offspring!
The best thing to do is go for something low-maintenance. Buying her something she has to think about all the time is not the idea! Orchids are my favourite because they only need a bit of water every couple of days & they’re right as rain, but if you ask someone at a garden centre, they’ll be able to push you in the right direction.
Go for a walk
How often do we get to spend time with our mothers & just hang out? If you’re anything like me, barely ever. There’s always something to do, somewhere to go, businesses to talk about & dinner to make. If you go on a walk together, you might be surprised at how good it is to just spend time with one another. You’re related, after all, & more similar than you might initially think. You don’t have to walk along the beach (this isn’t a personals ad!), but even walking to a café or around the neighbourhood can be wonderful.
Have a cup of tea
& hold her hand. Tell her you love her, bring her some biscuits & hug.
If none of these have tickled your fancy, there are a whole lot of other ideas at my article on Gift-Giving from last year!
If you’re a mother, what was your best ever mother’s day present? If not, what are you going to do for your mother this Sunday?
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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Much as I like some of your suggestions (and I’ve been down the photo route before – genius! Absolutely zilch chance of her being able to say she doesn’t like it!), I think that the cut flowers / house plant thing is a bit of a personal preference. I know that my mother, at least, vastly prefers receiving cut flowers because they’re a splash of luxurious colour which she’s under no pressure to keep alive, rather than a longer-term commitment which she’ll inevitably somehow manage to kill. (My grandmother’s sitting room has been moreorless turned into a plant nursery in which she tries desperately to revive past generations of my mum’s houseplants…)
PS In Britain, at least, Mothers’ Day is by no means a Hallmark holiday – it goes waaay back! It was traditionally the one day of the year on which young women working as servants were permitted to go home and visit their mothers. (Wikipedia informs me that it predates even this custom, but hey, that’s the version we learn at school.)
In my country(Romania) Mother’s Day is celebreted on 8 March!
thank you for the suggestions, next time i will surely use them!
Heather — Oh yeah, definitely! Some people are terrible at looking after plants, or just don’t want the hassle, in which case, a bright bunch of tulips or lilies is perfect! But I am a bit old-fashioned in that I think a plant is a great gift for any occasion, haha :>
I am planning on giving my mom a photo, as I live three states away from her and only get to see her a few times a year.
But I have extras this year because she’s graduating with her PhD on Friday (yay mom!) so I’m giving her a tin of Garrett’s popcorn, a Chicago-centric tradition and something she eats every time she comes to visit me.
I think especially if you’re in college or live far away, something that’s specific to the city you live in (but not tacky like a snow globe) makes that gap feel smaller, and when she hears you talk about the amazing popcorn, flowers, what-have-you of your city, she’ll know what you’re talking about.
Thanks for the always wonderful suggestions Gala!
Well… I tend to get my mom presents like its here birthday – if I can afford it. And, as luck would have it, I can afford it this year.
So, I’m torn between some gardening stuff, or the DVD version of Viva Las Vegas. We’ll see!
my mother unfortunately has to have her birthday on mothers day this year, which i kind of find Unfair.. only because instead of 2 days where she gets spoilt.. both days get squeezed into one!
We got her tickets to see Celine Dion when she was in Melbourne, She was 2 rows from the front and Loved it! but so she has something to open on mothers/birth Day im getting her a Wooden Antique Jewelery Box!
I also postponed my trip to Tokyo by 4 days so i could celebrate with her, that in itself is a present.. its 4 days i could of been in Tokyo!
I hope your mum has an awesome mothers day too Gala!
xx
Our moms are probably getting a gas card, because that is what they need most.
In the UK, we had Mothers Day on the 2nd of March because of Leap Year!
I bought my mum a nice bunch of flowers :)
xxx
i bought my mom a betsey johnson perfume and i’m making her a mix cd with songs that has her name in them (louise) and finally i’ll make her some heart-shaped sugar cookies with pink frosting! i love my mom so much.
I bought some very cute, colorful mini bowls from Anthropologie, and I’m going to plant some cooking herbs in them! I think she should like it…she’s a very practical person, so this is much more her than a massage or manicure (which is much more ME! :) )
I’ll also finally walk the dogs with her, something she always wants me to do but I always beg out of.
Marie – Weezer’s Tired of Sex has Louise in it! (I ought to know!) If your mother is into that .. hee hee.
While I’ve been away at college my parent have been fixing up our house from termit problems, so it’s been kind of messy. My mom has also been talking of redoing our garden area next summer, so my Dad and I figured we would get her some hanging plants to brighten up the walk way for now. I also told my Mom that I would be getting up extra early and bringing her breaskfast in bed.Thanks for the suggestions Gala!
My mama’s getting some One Lucky Duck truffles and Ulimana hemp brownies! yummmm!
Since I’m away at college, I’m sending a personalized card; when I come back home, I’m treating my mom to dinner since she rarely goes out (and when she does, no one treats her).
In the UK we have Mother’s Day in March. I got my mum a new bag stuffed with little bits of jewellery and Lush goodies.
In regards to buying for people who already have everything they want: My boyfriend once said that the best presents are the ones you never knew you wanted. And I think that’s spot on :)
Lou-
my mom actually likes weezer! i didn’t think of that one, so thank you!
Ooooh, I love that sculpture. I stumbled across it with a few friends about a year or so ago. I love Damien Hirst!
As for mom’s day – my sisters and I have gone the framed photo route at lest twice in memory, so we can’t pull that one this year. :) My mother, grandmother’s and aunt requested scratch off cards this year, so I will oblige them with those, and pretty cards. I just have to see what paper I have in stock…
my mom loves relaxing in a nice bath, but she hasn’t done so in ages because the only bathtub in her house is in her boyfriend’s bathroom and it’s a bit of a mess. (ugh, boys.) so I plan to either hire someone to clean that bathroom or clean it myself, and buy her a few Lush goodies to go along with the newly sparkling bathtub.
i’m making my mom a card with the first picture ever taken of the two of us.
when i was born, my mom made a calendar and she filled every day with everything i did the first year of my life: how much i weight, when my teeth came out, the first time i fell off the bed, the first time i ate certain fruit, the first movie i watched, everything!!! she recently gave that wonderful calendar to me and on the card i´m making, í´m going to use the may 10th, 1981 entry.
PS. here in mexico, every year we celebrate mother’s day on may 10th.
All these ideas sound fabulous! I’m a mum and I would love any/all of them.
My mom loves the city of New York (who doesn’t!), and knowing how things work… so I’m getting her a book called “The Works: Anatomy of a City”. Since I’m at college, I sent her a card which she is not to open until mother’s day, and then in the card, it tells her to go open the box on my desk! (I got my dad to put it there) Yay, it’s like a mini-treasure-hunt.
My mom has requested a picnic lunch for Mother’s Day at her mom’s house with the whole family, so that’s what we’re doing. It will be nice to spend time with everyone, and there will be 3 generations of moms present!
her in Mexico we have it on may 10, this year my mom actually told me what she wanted, a mixed cd of songs she listened to when she was my age . I might also throw in a little surprise in addition hope she likes it !!
I’ve made my mother some chutney from scratch :) Yay for handmade!
what a great post gala! :) hugs and sparkles, B x
I’m giving her a card I got at a little shop on Avenue A and then we’re going to see Chicago on Broadway! Trying to get in all the New York I can before I leave for the summer…
I have organised the family to have ‘high tea’! I’m going to go over in the morning and my sister and I are going to take over the kitchen and make little cupcakes and sandwiches, and we will have a big pot of tea and a bottle of bubbles :)
I’m putting a photo album together for my mommy.
I’ve been bouncing around the house going “I’ve got a secret plan!”
And “I’m making you your mothers day gift!”
And basically acting like an excited 3 year old. Haha.
I think next year I’m gonna buy a bunch of photo albums and put the GIANT rubbermaid box FULL of photos she has hidden in her closet from when me and my brother were little into the albums. They need need need to be in albums.
This project may take some time…
Mother’s day in Argentina is in October.
Last year I gave my mother three framed photos she tooked herself (she takes photograph as a hobby) and some nice chocolates.
She loved it!
My mom would probably shoot me if I bought her flowers. SHE WORKS IN A FLOWER SHOP! I was actually helping out there… but she fired me yesterday because I was tired and very grumpy.
I’ll take her to the movies. That’s her favorite thing. :)
I’m taking my mother out for a decadent lunch and then walking the dogs for her. they are beautiful, but they can be a handful and i am sure that she could do without them dragging her up and down the street.
they can drag me along instead!
The best Mother’s day present is the one that says,” I love you for being my Mum, but I also know who you are as a Woman.” Given that my girls are only little, something that they make themselves is the best for me. As for a gift from my Husband, anything that adheres to the above criteria is a winner, so he is helping me pay for my new tattoo. :)
XXX Super Kawaii Mama XXX
www.superkawaiimama.blogspot.c…
I’m giving my mom a scrapbook that I’m making her, and daisies. :)
Hiya Gala!
This year I am so truly excited! I’m a solo mother extraordinaire, and every year mother’s day makes me cringe…. I love my mum HEAPS but nothing happens for me heeeee!! I know it’s selfish but this year my daughter is is school and I’m looking forward to all the wonderful gifts (a.k.a junk only a mother could love) my lovely is going to create. She has already written me a card with a picture of me and her in it, and although she was laughing about the boogers she drew up my nose I love it to bits!!!
So if any of you know a solo mommy – please call her up on Sunday and tell her happy happy day :-)
xoxoxox
My mom lives a few states away and has had a hard time getting hold of me lately (I’m too busy!). So, I’m going to overnight a box of homemade biscotti with a very detailed letter (including pictures!) about what I’ve been up to lately. The day of, I’m baking for my boyfriend’s mom (haven’t decided what yet – pie?), and then he and I are going to take her to this butterfly exhibit that she looks forward to every spring.
All your ideas are so cute! I love it. Anything original & genuine has to be a winner! Unfortunately I’m going to be a long way away from my mother on Sunday… but I will call her from Disneyworld!
I love Mother’s Day as my Dad’s birthday falls on the same day, so I usually do things for both of them! This year my whole theme for gifts is relaxation & TLC – I’m paying for mum to spend the day at a day spa and have bought my dad a massaging chair set to have on his favourite recliner, and I always write them ESSAYS in their cards telling them how much I love them, the more they cry the better haha!
And to all the mothers that read iCiNG, Happy Mother’s Day!
Personally I’m sending my mother a card and donating money to a charity that feeds a family for a week in her honor. She said she has everything she needs, and always tells me not to buy anything for her. But she loves when I donate in her name.
I’m going out with my mum to get mani pedis together!!
so far, i’ve got my mum a book on interior design in mexico, and i’m planning on getting her one of those gifts that give back, from oxfam – like a goat for a family in africa, or a massive bag of wheat. i might get her a couple of those types of gifts, too. i think this option is worth it if your mum is of the orientation that she’ll understand its significance and social context… considering the situation in burma at the moment i’m not sure there’s a gift my mum would enjoy more. apart from a book on mexican interior design.
I’m giving my mom an oil painting I just finished. I know shell love it! But then again, she has all the projects I’ve made for her from way back in elementary school still sitting on the window sill. Shes an extra good mom!
And she also has a birthday that falls near (sometimes on) mothers day! Its kind of hard, because its not like I can throw together another painting! But I’ll find something else to do with her on her birthday. She likes so many diffrent things that its easy to get/do something she’ll love.
thanks for the ideas, Gala! My mom has a green thumb so I’m sure she’ll appreciate a potted plant. =)
I’m baking my mum some extra special cupcakes and will prob get her some flowers as well. I don’t get to see her very often so I think she’ll just love the fact that we can spend some quality time together on mothers day
Can’t go wrong with tea! I bought my mum 1001 Books To Read Before You Die a few weeks ago as a very early mothers day present – she’d been mentioning it and I saw it while shopping, so figured I might as well get it then. As for mothers day…green tea cupcakes, methinks.
My mother is a sucker for the Carpenters but she doesn’t have their tapes (yes cassette tapes) any more because they died. So I made her a Carpenters mixtap. :)
Wonderful ideas! I always get flowers but a potted plant is such a creative idea since my parents have huge green thumbs! Thanks a lot. (:
My mum drinks heaps and heaps of tea so I got her a new teapot and some cups in her favourite colour (purple), a bluey turquoise scarf wrap thing and a card with her favourite flowers on. I got my Grandma a card and I’m taking them both out to dinner in a few weeks.
Your ideas are excellent,I have to go make a card now-skips off to make a card-
For Mothers Day,I am going to make my mum breakfast in bed with my little brother and then every Mother’s Day my brother and I are not allowed to fight for the whole day,we have to be nice to each other which is quite hard!
Everyone told me I was copping out by giving my mother a photo of me and my brother, but he is in Wellington and I am moving to Melbourne in 3 weeks and she is having a hard time letting go and having no kids left in Dunedin with her, so I know she’ll love it.
Awesome post I love you Gala~
{I do three of these things everyday anyway!
smug smirk:P)Also, you could add massage to the list. It’s a family tradition to give my mom foot massages, and she LOVES em.
I’m gonna try breakfast in bed…and put in extra effort by making it prit-tay and artsy :)
xoxo
p.s. Anna’s idea=brilliant!
After been a cop out and buying some v. expensive Belgium Chocolates for mum, I came home and found this article. Dang. Could of saved a LOT of hassel!
Hey Gala! I stumbled across your little world from Nubby Twiglet. Your blog is fabulous! Looks like you had quite the adventure in New York, on your Livejournal. (I just came back myself, from a 2nd visit. I love that city so much!)
My sister’s backpacking around the world at the moment and got caught by an Aussie breakfast show. She had to say Happy Mothers Day to my mum back in London, so that’s a bonus for my mum, considering it’s not even Mothers Day here, haha.
I’ve added you to my Google Reader :)
x
I’m so happy you did this post!
I like the ideas :]
On my Mom’s birthday last year, I rented studio space and did a little photoshoot with her (very classis black and white pictures, us both in black jeans and white t-shirts) and she loved it more than ever. The pictures are hanging all over the house now, haha!
This year we moved into a new house, she took some time off work and managed to start on our garden (she’s a landscape designer/overall plant lover) and since she’s been working so much since then, she’s had no time to start the other little project that she wanted to start- a little herb garden. So this year, she’ll be out of town for the mothers day weekend, and I’m going to start one for her, and even buy her little hanging pots of mini-strawberries just to remind her of summers when I was younger.
I hope she likes it!
Oooh, some great ideas!
I think I will take my mum out for dinner, do some of the tidying she normally does, make sure dinner is sorted and maybe buy her some flowers to go with a great card telling her how much my sister and I love her. Just little things, as she always says she doesn’t need or want anything :)
Absolutely fantastic ideas! I’ll keep them in mind for when the next Mother’s Day rolls around.
I made my mum a photo collage of various pictures of flowers that I took on our family holiday together and smack-dab in the middle is a picture of her and my father walking hand in hand that I took without them knowing. I hope she likes it.
XOXO
My mom and I actually have very similar taste, by which I really mean that I have good taste and she recognizes it (unfortunately, does not always translate in the opposite direction), so getting presents is super easy! I am always picking up small things for her wherever I go, so Mother’s Day is more an opportunity for something less material. I usually take her out to a movie, concert, or cultural event, and then off to an expensively luxurious but totally worth it dinner.
I’m not going home this year for Mother’s Day, though, and she’ll be in New Jersey for a conference anyway, so I think instead we’re going to go down to New York and shop and eat delicious food next time I head home.
My wife is also a mother now (we have a 8month old baby girl), so for my wife’s first mother’s day I am buying her some jewelry. (i got the idea here)
My mother is getting some perfume and a picture of the family.
I got my mum a miniture version of her favourite perfume to put in her handbag and I am in the process of writing a poem for her. :). Tomorrow I am also off to the garden store to buy her a plant, she loves plants and the angus and julia stone album.
hehe, yea, i tend to always do one of those things on that list. every year i make mum a card and write a few lines in it because i know she’s always surprised at how thoughtful and artistically skilled her little girl is getting. ;P
this year i found two rather nice photographs of her which i had taken during the last 6 months or so. she’s always complaining about how i have all this fancy photography equipment but never take nice photos of her. well i guess this is my attempt at proving her wrong! i’ve printed them out and had them nicely framed – even the man at the photo store commented on how lovely she looks! yay!
I got my mum an awesome book called the Mothers book, where they fill in details about their lives before and after they had you. It’s got questions for prompts like, ‘What was your first pet’ and ‘where did we first go on vacation together’ and the Mum fills it in and gives it back to the child to read and keep. I love the idea of family history! I just hoping my mum doesn’t lie in it – she tends to gloss over the dark parts of our family history.
I am sad because I don’t get to spend Mothers Day with my son – he’s at his great grandma’s 70th that I can’t afford to get to. So I am busy ringing all my friends who are mothers or facebooking them to say Happy Mothers Day.
I gave mum a couple of miniature potted pink roses, with a big teddy and a hand-made card (with a cute mother and baby animal) with:
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
Happy Mother’s Day,
Love ___
(George Cooper wrote this poem)
This post inspired me to get my mom a beautiful orchid plant (see it here: www.flickr.com/photos/51489491). Unbeknownst to me, she’d always wanted one! Thank you for the great idea!