Let’s be honest about what mom really wants for Mother’s Day. Plus, some great gift idea: funny cards, the most delicious treats, and a necklace featuring your kid’s handwriting!
Not all moms want to be with their kids on Mother’s Day. Those are just the facts, friends. The past two years in a row, I’ve held a poll on my Instagram Story asking moms to cast their anonymous vote on how they would like to spend Mother’s Day. Option #1: With Kids, Option #2: Solo, indulging in ‘me’ time. Both years, it’s split right down the middle, pretty much 50/50.
I can’t imagine not being with my boys on Mother’s Day, but I do get why some moms would rather fly solo that day. Parenting is a lot, and if you can score 24 hours to forgo mom duties and do whatever you want to do with no distractions, DO IT! I’m a big believer that time away is essential for parenthood survival. (A nice option would be to have part of the day with your kiddos and part to yourself.)
Whichever type of mama is in your family, here are some general ideas (and further down in the post, some specific gift suggestions) on how to make her feel special this Mother’s Day.
A Few Ideas:
- Experience: Give mom an experience instead of something from the store. Look for workshops she may enjoy in your hometown, plan a day out having a picnic with her in the park, or book into the best brunch spot in town and sip mimosas in the sunshine!
- Time Away: Gift her a night or weekend away somewhere she’ll love! This allows you to still spend the big day together, but she gets to look forward to some ‘me time’ later.
- The continuous gift: Treat her to a subscription box. Not only does she get a treat each month, but it’s also a reminder each month of how much you love her!
- Jewellery: Depending on your mom’s style, there’s always something for everyone. Make sure you’re choosing a piece that has a story behind it – even if it’s just that when you saw it you immediately thought of her.
- Homemade: It’s so meaningful when you spend time making something for mom. Cook her dinner, print a photo of the two of you and paint a frame to put it in, or head to the garden centre and create a mini bowl of succulents (more great ideas here). If you’re on a tight budget, a homemade card, an ‘I love you’, and a hug is perfect!
- Help: Clean the house (or better yet, hire a cleaning company to do it). I gifted this to Ryan as part of his Valentine’s Day gift this year and it was a hit! Or, you could get her vehicle totally detailed. Ryan just did this for me and I LOVE it! No more squeezy packs crusted to the seats. It honestly looks brand new.
On Me: ‘Mom’ Tank | Jeans | American Eagle Kimono (sold out online) | White Pumps
On Wyatt: Tee | Shorts | Fedora | Loafers
Meaningful Jewellery
- Engraveables: Have your kid’s initials, names, important dates, etc. engraved on a beautiful rose gold, silver, or gold-plated brass bar hanging from a simple chain. Inexpensive and heartfelt. Order here.
- Handwritten: Have kid’s actual handwriting made into a necklace. Tiny Zen Jewellery offers this one-of-a-kind creation. Order here.
- Utensils: Turn her collector’s spoon into a necklace, bracelet, or ring. Studio D Creations makes really cool pieces out of vintage cutlery. View options here, then DM to order.
Sweet Treats
- Chocolate & Jewellery: So Pretty Cara Cotter and Jacek Chocolate have collaborated for a ‘Moms of Gold’ campaign. Cara Cotter designed a gorgeous pendant necklace, which inspired a six-piece box of gold chocolate truffles specifically designed for Mother’s Day by Jacqueline Jacek. The $100 package is available now at jacekchocolates.com, and at soprettycaracotter.com. Visit my Instagram Story today (May 2) and you could win a package!
- Red Balloon Pie Caramels: I gift these all the time because they’re so damn delicious!! Made in Edmonton but available online here. The buttery soft treats come in several different flavours. (Neat back-story to tell when you gift: Creator, Erica Vliengenthart, is the head pastry chef at Edmonton’s District Cafe. She’s using District’s kitchen to make these creations until she gets her own space.) She also makes unbelievable pies available at local markets in Edmonton.
Cute Mama Shirts
- Pixel Paper Heart designed available at Plum Home + Design
- Blush Mom Tank from From Ily Couture
- The Bee and The Fox ‘Love Your Mother’ tee from Shop the Skinny
Subscription Boxes
- What the Stork Forgot: carefully curated postpartum care packages for new moms! Online ordering will be available soon but in the meantime, email to order: sendthestork@gmail.com.
- Gathered ‘Mom’ Box: A beautifully-curated box for moms including bubble bath, lotion in lavender vanilla, a clutch, a scarf that can be used as a nursing cover, and more! This limited edition box can be ordered by emailing the Gathered team. Mention ‘Kari sent me’ for 15% off! You can order three or six-month subscriptions, so each month a box full of treats arrives at the mama’s door.
Fun Cards
Pin this to your gift or mom boards!
Other posts you’ll love:
Being a Full-Time Work-From-Home Parent: How I Do It
Self Love: Indulgences to Treat Yourself
Women’s Health: Surgery With Robots
xx
Love the ideas, would way rather hubby buy something from a local boutique over a big chain.
Thanks so much for the chance to win! Would
Love a cue necklace or earrings from my fave place Bella Maas. 💙
You defiantly head the nail on the head with these suggestions. Having been a mother for 20 years, I can say that all of these would have ( and hopefully will be, after I hint) much appreciated gifts to receive. Thank you for taking the work out of it for my family. Thanks , Shauna
I think experiences are a fantastic idea! It’s the gift of memories…that mom doesn’t have to organize! Haha
Great “hints” for me to leave for my Mr. and the kids for Mother’s Day! Thanks!!
Love the ideas!
Oh I love the gift idea of Help! Clean car, kitchen, bathrooms! Pretty sure I need to email this to my hubby.
Because I have a toddler I usually buy something I want and tell myself its from him. Haha!
Fantastic ideas!
Great ideas! Will send hubby here to get some inspiration!!
Fantastic ideas to make Mothers Day that much more special 🙂
Great ideas! Love them all ❤️
I would love brunch alone, and someone to clean out my nasty backseat/wipe down my vehicle for me. 😂😂
love the jacek/so pretty collaboration
Amazing ideas! I love how many unique Edmonton gift ideas there are!
Awesome ideas! I like the curated boxes of goodies!
Great ideas😊
I’m not a mother, but I’m a pretty proud auntie! Thanks for all the de-lish/pretty/creative ideas for Mother’s Day…or pretty much any day!
So many great ideas here! Husbands have no excuse now!
Thank you for the contest, and thank you for sharing all the great ideas 😊
I love this! I love being with my kids on mother’s day. But a gift of time away later, like a pedicure or something, would be awesome. I love simple handmade gifts from my kids most. Honestly I kind of wish Mother’s day could just be about me. But it’s not. We usually host both sets of parents/grandparents at our house. So it’s a ton of work. But our moms won’t be around forever so we need to have these special family days while we can.
Perfect 👌🏼 All these ideas are wonderful!
Good ideas. I like the idea of the subscription box! I’ll have to plant the idea in my husband’s head for next year!
These are such great ideas! As an adult, I find it hard to get my mom gifts. I love Parabo’s subscription box, and I think she’d love to get one too! Great idea with the subscriptions!!
Great ideas!!
What a great post full of wonderful ideas! I hope you have a lovely Mother’s Day! xo
Jacek chocolates are always a no-risk gift in our house – the best!
Love your ideas!! I am taking my mom out to brunch and giving her a nice piece of jewelry that she was eyeing for awhile 💖💖
Love these ideas, so simple and classic and I’m sure both my mom, step mom and grandma will love!
Love the Cara Cotter necklace!
Lovely ideas! 😍
With a busy 1 year old , my vehicle certainly has seen better days so getting my car cleaned with would THE best!
Loved all your gift ideas. This is my first mother’s day so I may have sent my husband the link :). It also gave me such great ideas for my own mama
Great Mother’s Day ideas, I would happily accept any of the above listed!!
Great ideas and a great blog!
Great read – I’m with you, I love to be with my family on Mothers Day – but maybe I will ask for a few extra winks of sleep 😉
Good ideas!! Already do most of the helping and experience stuff with her but finding a new experience would be fun!
All amazing ideas! You had me at 🚙 detailing! Also LOVE this post partum subscription box! Definitely going to check that out.
So Pretty jewels are my favourite pieces!! And such amazing chocolate from Jacek!!
Love supporting local, I pretty much buy all of my gifts from local companies exclusively.
Great ideas!!! Kids getting along and working together to make the day extra special! Jewelry and chocolates always works! Throw in some Prosecco and a good book! I got it made.
What an awesome list of ideas!! I every husband needs to see this!
And I have to admit, for mother’s day… Can I get the best of both worlds… a morning to myself… perhaps at the have spa and then an afternoon full of family cuddles 😜
Such great ideas thanks Kari!!
Love the experiences idea, but honestly my car needs to be detailed in a bad way. Apple sauce and muddy boots have taken a toll.
So many amazing ideas here! I love the cleaning related gifts, I’m going to be dropping some major hints for those this year!
Homemade gifts are always my favourite, but jewellery is never turned away!! ♥️ Thanks for sharing this post! ♥️
My plan for Mother’s Day is to spend the morning with my kiddos, then a good friend and I are going for Mother’s Day brunch at Cafe Linnea! Best of both worlds 🙂
I love the subscription boxes for new moms idea! Definitely something I will be considering for all my new mom friends. 🙂
Great ideas! My mom lives away so a phone call and then a package in the mail (hopefully or chocolate and jewelry) 😉 will be my strategy!