When Mother’s Day rolls around again and the advertisements start up on TV, I always wonder, why do they think all mothers are aged in their sixties and love Michael Buble’ and purple fluffy slippers?
Not that I’m knocking either of those things, I’m sure there are mums out there who would totally love that gift, but a Mother’s Day gift guide for mums needs to be a little bit broader and more exclusive of the different kinds of mums there are.
Mums come in a vibrant and colourful range of shapes and sizes, likes and desires! There are a few things almost all mums have in common:
- We don’t have enough time, energy or money
- We work too hard
- Everyone else’s needs come first. We don’t put ourselves first.
- Rarely, if ever, we treat ourselves or take time off
- We wish we had more quality time with our children. (That we could spend a little less time yelling at them and repeating ourselves over and over.)
Tips for Partners and kids
Using this vital information about your mum as a basis, you can start planning your Mother’s Day ideas and put together a list of incredible gifts and treats to spoil mum.
Here are some handy guidelines to follow:
- Do not give her anything practical unless it significantly makes her life easier
- Give her a treat that she would normally not get herself
- Give her a break (why, oh why do Mums only get one day?)
- Do not stop with just one treat/gift/break – trust me, this woman deserves more
Now think hard about the sorts of things that she likes, or what she would enjoy doing if she had all the time in the world and no other priorities. Then whatever you come up with, buy her a bunch of stuff around that idea.
Here are some awesome Mother’s Day ideas that won’t break the bank and that hopefully will get you inspired about what to get for her on this very important day (or ANY DAY really, why wait?)
Darwin Family Life’s Clever and Awesome Mother’s Day Gift Guide
We have rounded up some ideas for gifts to spoil your Mum (or Mum’s if your reading this – hint to your partner and share this blog with them 😉
Subscription Box
I just love the idea of subscription boxes so much. The variety is incredible – you are sure to find something that your mum will love.
Kind of a step up from a magazine subscription, these boxes mean that a whole, you guessed it, box of stuff gets delivered to the lucky lady every month. What is in the box depends on who you go with but some ideas we adore include:
- Pampering and self-care kits with things like bath salts and essential oils, hand cream and candles. You could even do up your own gift box with some beautiful essential oils from Tropical Blends.
- Tea, coffee or chocolate subscription boxes
- Art or craft boxes such as for knitters, scrapbookers, adult journalists or people who just love to colour
- Herbs, spices and sauces to inspire the budding chef
- Gardening boxes with seeds for every season
Fresh Meals Delivery
In every largish city in Australia (including Darwin!), you can get fresh meals or meal kits delivered to the door. What overworked mother wouldn’t love this service? These usually contain lots of lovely fresh, in season food and recipe cards to follow. Perfect for the mum whose brain won’t function at the end of the day to figure out how the microwave works to make macaroni and cheese.
For extra brownie points, you could go one step better and get the meals delivered already made up, and just needing to be heated. Although someone would then need to figure out the microwave.
Go to a Café Kit
Now this one you need to put this one together yourself. It’s super easy and really tailored to your specific mum recipient. Give her a few hours at a local café, either her favourite one or choose a new and interesting one for her to try out. Let her go by herself, or she could invite girlfriends if she liked.
Wrap up a lovely box or a cute tote bag with a voucher for the café. Include in the box or bag things to enjoy while she is relaxing there. These could be: magazine, juicy novel, nail polish, puzzle book, crafty stuff if she is a knitter or a book about a new hobby she might take up. Load up a cool chillax playlist on her device and attach new earphones, lip balm and breath mints for after.
Then give her the time off to enjoy this.
Something Pretty and Indulgent
The sky is the limit with this gift idea. But your only rules are things that spoil her, make her happy, or things she wouldn’t stop to buy for herself. Great ideas include:
- Pretty scarves
- Whimsical jewellery like earrings or brooches
- A beautiful soft cashmere wrap
- Satin pyjamas
- Proper leaf tea, a pretty teapot and dainty teacup
Day Spa Voucher
While bath salts and face masks are a nice idea, however if she is squeezing into the same filthy half-bathtub that you bathe the kids in, trying to get some me-time while they yell outside, then this doesn’t really work as a gift.
Send her to a day spa with a voucher. Massage, facial, full body scrub, manicure, pedicure, or just an indulgently long soak are all things mums really appreciate. In clean day spa rooms. For a luxuriously long time. With silence outside the door and no sound in the room except that lovely rainforesty music they have there. This is ALWAYS a favourite gift of mine and it also allows me to zone out and enjoy a sleep while I am getting pampered!
Renew her energy
Anything that either lets her rest and recharge her batteries. Or that gives her an energy boost in other ways, is a very good idea. Consider some of these gift ideas for Mum:
- Get her a cleaner. This one might be a little expensive, but you will go down in history as the person who bought the greatest present ever!
- Hire a petting zoo to come and set up in your yard as a surprise. Then just let her pet baby animals all afternoon.
- For mums who want to be healthy, get a sexy retro-looking juicer and some gorgeous, in-season fruit, or a subscription to a fresh fruit delivery. You could also get her a slice or two of yummy healthy raw cake in a variety of flavours from Petra’s Raw cakes!
- For any other mum, just give her sleep. Either take her children away for a day and let her lie in bed with a Netflix remote, or even better, give her a night in a hotel all by herself.
Whatever you get for your mum, or for the mother of your children, make sure that you give her the time as well to use it. Don’t just buy a book and box of chocolates, make sure she gets some time on her own to enjoy them.
Time, rest and indulgence, that it what us mothers need. And if for her that means Michael Buble’ and purple fluffy slippers, then bring it on!
For more advice on great gift ideas for mum or places you can take the kids to give her a day off, contact Darwin Family Life or leave a comment below! Celebrate and enjoy Mother’s Day!
