What Moms REALLY Want: 10 Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day that Moms Will Totally Love
These two yayhoos better be discussing my Mother’s Day gift here or there will be HELL TO PAY come Sunday May 13th.
I’m going to go ahead and put it out there that I don’t want flowers this Mother’s Day. Which is, by the way, on Sunday May 13th.
Flowers are, by far, the most popular Mother’s Day gift but this year I am putting my foot down. So listen up! If someone near or far is sending me a thoughtful gift and thinks that ordering flowers is the way to go, maybe check out the options I’m generously throwing out below. You can order most of them online too and I will get much more enjoyment out of them than I would out of a pricey bouquet of flowers that’s just going to die in a few days anyway.
So really, this list is more for my husband *cough* than any of you but there are some excellent Mother’s Day gift ideas here, people. Mom approved gift ideas. I posted an informal poll on my Facebook page and dozens of moms responded. The top three responses and several more ideas they offered for what they really want for Mother’s Day made the list. You cannot go wrong with any of the purchases below, trust me. If the lady in your life doesn’t dig any of this stuff send her my way and I’ll set her straight.
Oh, and here’s a tip from me to you. No breakfast in bed. LET MOM SLEEP IN! The crack of dawn burnt toast and runny eggs the kids helped whip up is nice and all but just… let me rest! I’m not the only one that feels that way. As Huffington Post recently reported, of 19,000 women polled, 8 of 10 said they prefer to sleep in this mother’s day.
So, I was saying, before you whip out your credit card to order yet another boring bouquet destined for the garbage, click through the gift ideas below and see if something there doesn’t catch your eye. And hey! If mom really digs flowers then go ahead and get some but maybe combine them with one of the super affordable ideas below.
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Massage Gift Card
I conducted an informal poll on my blog and more than half of the nearly 30 women who responded said their ideal Mother's Day gift was a massage. And take note! You have to actually purchase the massage gift card and give it to mom. If you just send mom out the door to go get a massage guilt will inevitably keep her from purchasing one on her own as she'll likely feel a massage is too frivolous a thing to spend money on. However, if she has a gift card specified for a massage then she has to use it, right? That's how our brains work. Mom guilt, it's the worst.
Image: Massagebymara.com -
The Forever Gift
Diamonds are forever but they certainly aren't this girl's best friend. A beautiful plant or tree is forever too and I'd get a whole lot more enjoyment out of a tree I could plant in my backyard and enjoy on a daily basis for years to come. In fact, if my husband is reading this he should go ahead and take that as a HINT. In case he, like most men, is a little thick-headed when it comes to this kind of thing let me spell it out: I. Want. A. Tree. I. Can. Plant. In. Our. Backyard. For. Mother's. Day. Save all the money you'd spend on flowers that will die and get me a tree that I can plant with Violet and Henry. Was that clear enough? You think he'll get the hint?
Image: Joonbug.com -
Photo to Canvas
I had a photo of my kids from last Easter transformed into a large canvas print that I hang in their playroom. I adore it. What mom doesn't want an awesome photo of their children transformed into art? There are several websites that do this. I went through CanvasWorld.com and was very happy but you can do a little shopping around and get one shipped by Mother's Day.
Image: AllPopArt.com (another option for transforming photos to canvas art) -
Blog to Book
If mom is a blogger why not pick out some of her best blog posts and pictures and have them made into a book? I have several friends who do this every year and the result is a beautiful keepsake mom will cherish forever. Several websites offer this service but Blurb.com seems to be the most popular.
Image: Blurb.com -
Personalized Quilt
We moms get awfully attached to the little onesies and special outfits our children wear as babies. Now, you can keep them forever. Order a quilt made from the baby clothes mom has saved all these years. This one might take a little longer but something tells me if you get the kids to deliver breakfast in bed with some home-made cards that tell mom very own quilt is on the way she'll be pleased as punch. JellyBeanQuilts.com is just one of a dozen websites to offer this servce.
Image: JellyBeanQuilts.com -
Home-Made Is Magic
Step 1: Go to Walmart and buy a bunch of construction paper, glue, stickers and glitter. Wait, don't get glitter. It'll cause mom more pain than it's worth later. But get the rest of that stuff and get the kids going on home-made cards for mom. You can find a bunch of excellent ideas here. If that's not your thing, buy some rigatoni, string and food coloring and make mom a colored necklace like the one I'm sporting here. My daughter made it for me and it is, hands down, my favorite "jewelry" I've ever owned. Click here for a little coloring pasta/necklace making tutorial you can use. It's a snap and mom will love it!
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Of the Month Club
The gift that keeps on giving all year long! Sign mom up for an of the month club. They pretty much offer anything mom is into. Soap of the month, cheese of the month, bacon of the month. Who knew? Me? I'd love to receive a wine of the month. If you do sign mom up for a wine of the month maybe order this really cool corkcicle to go along with the gift.
Image: Silentnightevent.com -
Write from the Heart
Nothing says I love you like handwritten notes telling mom how much she means to the family. Check out this little book, 12 Ways You've Made A Difference, you can get shipped to you in just a few days and still have plenty of time to fill in the pages. Mom will cry, I promise.
Image: uncommongoods.com -
Meaningful Jewelry
Jewelry is nice but if you aren't looking to drop a couple hundred (and who is?) then why not get mom something that is special because of the names engraved on it and not the diamonds? This sterling silver bracelet from personalizationmal.com can be engraved with the names of all moms children. She'll love it and it won't break your bank.
Image: personalizationmall.com -
The Hottest Book Around
If mom is a big reader then you can just go ahead and buy her Jenny Lawson's new book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened. Even if she isn't a fan of Lawson's hilarious blog, TheBloggess.com she'll laugh until she pees when reading the book. And oh, it's number one on the NY Times bestsellers list, so you don't have to just take my word for it.
Buy the book by clicking here. -
BONUS IDEA: Guilt-Free Money
If you waited until the last second and now you'll never get anything shipped in time then take heart! The second most popular thing moms on my informal Facebook poll said they would love for Mother's Day is guilt-free cash. Just give her some money and shove her out the door. But try and make it kind of special, you know? Maybe let her sleep in, some home-made cards from the kids and then give her the cash, shove her out the door and tell her not to come home until she has spent every last cent! If you really want to make it special (translation: you feel guilty for waiting until the last second to find a gift) maybe do the dishes and take out the trash while she's gone. She'll love it.
You can also find Monica on her personal blog, The Girl Who.
Read more from Monica on Strollerderby:
80s Flashback! Totally Rad Cartoons (and Theme Songs) You Grew Up With
Cash from my husband? No thank you. That it was actually a popular response in this poll just makes me sad.
@Grace – The point several women made was they hated to see money wasted on flowers etc… (a bouquet is pricey these days!) when what they really wanted was to buy something especially for themselves that they wouldn’t normally be able to justify buying because it felt frivolous or wasteful. I don’t think it’s sad at all but I get what you mean.
I had to chuckle a couple of days ago when my boyfriend (extremely new; Mother’s Day will have been less than a month of us being together) asked me how much I’d charge to make such-and-such necklace with such-and-such details. I told him, since I’d feel bad charging him (I make jewelry on the side), that it’d just be for the cost of materials. Then he told me he’d need it by Mother’s Day, and I thought to myself, ‘how sweet, he wants me to make something for his mom’, and then he goes, ‘the necklace will be for you’. But he’s picking out the pendant. So… I’m making my own Mother’s Day gift this year. lol
I’ve been searching the web for good ideas for my mom for Mother’s Day, and came across this great article. I agree with Monica: LET MOM SLEEP IN!! Massages make for a great gift too. I found some other great gift ideas on Red Envelope and Groupon, which has special mother’s day deals for different cities here: http://www.groupon.com/mothers-day/
almost none of these are for single moms. as a single mom i can’t sleep in, i don’t get breakfast most days cause i’m too busy making everyone else’s, i can’t go shopping or get a massage cause i don’t have anyone to watch the kids and couldn’t live with myself if i spent that much money on me. if i can find a book i want i may do that one. if i have some money left after buying the kids shoes and boots and whatever else they fell they ‘need’ i might be selfish enough to buy myself some cappuccino drink mix to make myself a frozen coffee. i can’t wait till my toddler is old enough to make cards for me cause i’d like that one.
I’ll take the flowers! I LOVE flowers. My husband usually takes our three boys out to pick hanging baskets and a few other flowers or plants out for me.
I love this list Monica,mothers days been and gone here in the uk but I might leave this list on view for next year!
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I was so happy to see Jenny’s book on your list because yesterday I told my husband that I wanted to read her new book and he didn’t have a clue who I was talking about. But since he reads your blog (& Serge’s) maybe he will be able to put two and two together, but just in case he can’t take a hint….I will just tell him.
I would LOVE guilt free cash from my hubby. I never seem to spend money on myself, always on the kids. If he just handed me a wad of cash and told me to go spend it I’d be thrilled.
Absolutely want the cash. Shove me out the door, buy me a tall Dunkin coffee and let me venture to the thrift shops spending hours looking…… And not to come home until I spent all of it.
I loooooove it.
It’s the small things that count.
Loving this list! I’m totally going to be sending this article and hinting at the cash.
I laughed though when you said that you had to spell it out for your husband as to what you want. I thought I was the only wife who had to do that!