Geez, whatever happened to just making something for your mom? Merely glue some colored macaroni to a peice of paper shaped as a heart, slap on some random trinkets from underneath your couch coushin, write your name on it, and there ya go! Insta-present.
However, it can easily turn into Insta-“why-the-hell-did-I-give-birth-to-you-,you-worthless-peice-of-elephant-droppings!!!” , So be careful.
On another note… If your not artistically inclined, then I would deffinetly suggest sending her to a spa for a day or something.
Or give her a vacum cleaner. Maybe even a Oujia Board. Then she can contact spirits, and as we all know, thats a gift in itself.
And theres always the good old 19th century guillotine. The possibilities with that thing are endless.
My mother is awful to shop for. Nothing is ever good enough for her. So we ask her each year to give us a “wish list” and then we choose from it. A lot of the times the things she writes down is too expensive and we have to steer off the list and substitute.
We substitute with gift certificates. Home Depot is always a sure thing!
Make a donation in her name to some appropriate charity. In this case, some non-profit that fights depression would be good. (Or, less sarcastically, put a copy of her favorite book in the local public library.)
You know, this whole thread reminds me of my mother’s cousin’s trials buying gifts for her mother-in-law many years ago, when ladies still wore gloves. One year for Christmas they bought MIL a lovely pair of kid gloves. She sent them back. with the comment, “I already HAVE gloves.”
Some people you just can’t please. Maybe you should give your mom a big Miss Manners book since she seems to be etiquette-impaired. Just because a gift is from your child doesn’t give you special rights to break etiquette rules and complain about it.
Hey, its not just woman and its not just old people who are like this. I too am one of these people “who doesn’t like anything”. Well, its not that I don’t like anything, its just anything that I’d want would be too expensive/obscure to reasonably expect as a gift. I really don’t like it when people ask “…hey, so what do you want for [ ]…” How am I supposed to respond???
Having said that, I’m not really that hard to shop for since I’m a sucker for cheese and kitsch. I love tacky, pointless knick knacks.
If the poster was sincere, the above quote is just absolutely crummy advice. Gift giving is an expression of love/friendship/etc. Yeah, it’s annoying when someone won’t give you any ideas when asked, but you just have to accept the fact that some people are too lazy or uncreative to come up with anything. Even if they say they don’t want anything, blowing off their birthday will only lead to bitterness. No matter what they say, everyone wants to feel special on their birthday.
On the other hand, the following is one of the best things I’ve ever read regarding gifts:
You say she doesn’t want anything. But then you only talk about books and movies. Maybe you don’t realize books and movies make up a tiny subset of what people want for gifts.
Tiny.
Here are some other ideas:
Jewelry
Coin set from the year she was born
Cool kitchen gadget
Cool craft gadget
Set of silver frames. (This is something I got my aunt for Christmas. Ten silver frames for $20. She loved it.)
Prepaid visit to a spa
You should also consider that as an English teacher, reading is her job. Buying her a book is like buying flowers for a florist.
Try to think of something interesting and original. I just googled “mother’s day gift” to get some ideas, and found a listing for a Bloody Mary Gift Set! So there’s lots of ideas out there - maybe too many.
Oh, and don’t overlook the very valuable “You Collect This Now” school of gift giving. A few years ago I was interested in collectible Barbies. My brother bought me a couple for Christmas and then he was set. Every birthday and Christmas, he knew what to get me.
Can you get your mom collectible plates, teddy bears, tea pots, or Christmas villiage buildings? If there’s anything like that she might like, you could be set for years.
Some fancy ones, some plain ones, whatever.
She’ll think it’s practical, she might actually use them, but to you (because of this tread) it will be hilarious.
Seriously, the best gift I ever gave my mom cost me about $3. I went on eBay and found a near-mint copy of her favorite childhood book that my brother and I had destroyed when we were kids. (“Silly Pilly and his Rollerskates” for anyone interested.) She almost started crying she was so estatic. She keeps it propped up on the dresser next to her bed (!). I guess the trick is to get someone something really obscure that they never even knew they wanted. Maybe there’s something she USED to like and then forgot about? Does she maybe complain about “kids today” and their crap and fondly remember something from her own childhood? (“Moxie” cola? Mary Jane candies? A slinky? The movie she saw on her first date with your dad? Saddle shoes? I’m just tossing out ideas here.) She might get a kick out of something she considers a “blast from the past.” Maybe an old magazine from the day she was born? (I always like to look at the old ads, etc.) I always appreciate a gift, but I appreciate it more if I can tell the person put some thought into making it special for ME personally rather than grasping at straws. (There are plenty of “generic” type gifts you can give anyone, but it’s so great when someone gives you something and says “I immediately thought of you when I saw this!”)
I don’t think I’m old enough to get away with giving socks as a gift. Besides, who said “Do unto others?” I know my reaction is “Oh. Lovely. Socks. Nothing says you care like Wal-Mart socks.”
Does she have one of those rolling stepstools that you can put your foot on it, and it stops, is still? Less cumbersome than carrying a regular stepstool around, and if she has anything that’s out of reach, she might like it.
If she’s arranged her life at a convenient level, there still may be a few things she could use it for.
