I am soooo out of ideas for a Mother’s Day gift. I don’t think giving her flowers again is going to cut it. And I have a MIL I have to buy for too, who hates EVERYTHING. I so hate this time of year … May is Mother’s Day and then Mom’s birthday is in June. Talk about a one-two punch.
Anyone got any ideas for a decent, original Mother’s Day gift that will not set me back more than $50 per Mom? Besides the ever-present flowers, I’ve also tried gift baskets with soap, hand lotion, etc. in them, gift certificates to restaurants and stores, and clothes. I live too far away to do anything like come over and make a meal or clean the house, and getting someone else to do it is too expensive.
Lottery tickets.
Gourmet picnic baskets.
An afternoon at one of those paint-your-own-plate-and-fire-it places.
Chippendales, and I don’t mean furniture.
Scarlett nailed it: nothing could be better than a hand-written letter from you, just saying exactly how much she means to you. It’s the kind of thing that usually never gets done somehow but feeds the heart. She’ll read and re-read it.
Heck, even your MIL. If strapped for inspiration do some “glurge searching” on the 'puter. She reared your beloved life partner; pour on sentiments and charitably stifle reservations. Focus on the good stuff, even if you have to mine for it.
Maybe send some nifty food gift baskets along with? There are a ton of them on the 'Net. Pastries, fresh fruit, good hams, etc. Movie passes. Video rentals. Car wash/detailing certificates. Things that make everyday life a little simpler, easier and special.
All ::splort!:: you’re doing is saying, “thank you”. Do a Spencer Tracey. When asked his secret for making things look so simple and real he said, “Plant your feet, look the other guy in the eye and tell the truth.” Find your balance and tell why you’re giving the gift.
If the gift is rejected, well, you can’t control that. The giving is what matters. And don’t be misled. Sometimes it’s terrifically hard to accept/believe gifts, compliments, etc. Doesn’t mean they aren’t privately cherished and marveled over.
Can’t help you with the MIL, I’m a flowers gal 100% on this one.
For my own mom, I have tried to find things that somehow related to things my mom and I did together growing up. A video of a movie she introduced me to, along with the note saying how much my enjoyment of this movie is related to the fact that it always makes me think of her. One birthday, I made a collection of the picture books that I remember best, the ones that she used to read to me (Make Way for Ducklings, Amos and Boris, etc). We looked through them together, and because she really has no interest in keeping them, we donated them to a local literacy program. The thing about my mom is that she already has too much stuff, so she’s more than happy to accept gifts that are more about “the moment” then things that she’s going to keep.
My brother has a knack for remembering family stories – he remembered that when my mom was a teen, she was in agony for years because my grandma would not give in and let her have a pink princess phone in her bedroom (a story that my grandma would bring up whenever my mom was complaining about all the garbage we wanted), so naturally, we got her a pink princess phone. The other thing my mom wanted when she was growing up was a pony, so occasionally we threaten her by saying we are getting her a pony next Christmas. This makes other gifts seem good by comparison, a tactic of which we are very proud.
My cousin had a great idea a few years ago - we both got our moms gift certificates for a manicure and facial, with the point that they could go together.
For my mom’s 50th birthday my brothers and I made a list of “50 Reasons Why We Love Our Mom.” Then we had it framed with a picture of the four of us as kids. She absolutely loved it. It was very inexpensive, and much more meaningful than anything else we could have gotten her. Some of the things we wrote were emotional, but a lot of things we said just thanked her for stuff she’d done for us while we were growing up, like going to our soccer games, cooking us dinner, etc. Hope this helps!
One year my daughter gave me an adopt-an-animal certificate from the zoo. She donated money to the zoo and they gave me a certificate of adoption and a framed picture of my critter. I think she donated about $20-25 so my adoptee was a ‘lesser’ animal, an American otter. The more exotic animals cost a bit more. It was a great gift and I displayed the picture proudly. We made a visit to the zoo on Father’s Day so the whole family could enjoy meeting the otter.
I was going to go with a gift certificate for a full body massage but heembo beat me to it. I gave one to my Mom for Christmas twice now, and she loves them. You won’t be allergic(flowers), you won’t gain weight(candy or other snacks), you don’t have to wear it, dust it, or display it, just enjoy it. Mom said, after the first one, she just kid of oozed off the table and floated home.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I think the idea of writing a letter is sweet, but let’s just say my mom and I don’t have that sort of relationship (I’m an only child and since she doesn’t have any other kids to concentrate on, she drives me up a tree on a regular basis). Regardless of that, though, I think I can still use the basis of that idea and figure out something I can do!
My mother is also in her 70s and legally blind, so perhaps I can make a tape for her instead of a letter … maybe I can just talk about humorous things that have happened to us in the past.
The massage is an excellent idea too. Perhaps I could arrange for someone to pick her up and drop her off, too. I get massages as often as I can afford them, and they are wonderful!
Another (and I think better) variation on flowers is a flowering plant. My mom is a big gardener so often she replants them outside. Calyx and Corolla has some really nice selections. They do sell regular flowers too, but beware because you have to arrange them yourself.
Another place I use a lot is RedEnvelope, they have lots of “luxury” gifts that women like.
I think a massage is an even better idea now that I hear your mom is getting on in years. Touch is so important, and that’s exactly what is lacking in a lot of older persons’ lives. There are some massage therapists who specialize in geriatric massage, and if you can locate one of those (might have to be by word of mouth) it would be wonderful. The woman who taught our infant massage class also did a lot of geriatric massage, and she spoke of their bodies so lovingly, it brought tears to my eyes.
Would your MIL like something more like a manicure or pedicure? How about a gift certificate to those “paint you own pottery” places that are so big now? A really nice rosebush or other flowering shrub (if she’s a gardener)? I see I’m the second person to say that now. A cool birdbath? A garden flag pole and some nice little garden flags? Someone gave me one of those last year and I love it, especially the pleasure of getting new flags for it (and you’d be set for future gifts!) I dunno. I’m getting my MIL a Longaberger basket. I just hope she knows what they ARE so she’ll actually appreciate it.
Actually, I think my mom would like a pedicure. Because of her eyesight, it’s really hard for her to do her own toenails! I finally decided on a hummingbird feeder for the MIL, because she likes birds. Thanks for all the great suggestions, and wish me luck that the MIL at least doesn’t hate her gift!
