Not what moms want

I get many emails in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day telling me about various products and services that might make good gifts for moms. I guess this is because everybody knows that the only way people are going to know what to get for their mom is if their mom tells them what to get. AND THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT or else we’d all be bombarded with crap like this. These are real products, designed and produced with moms in mind.

The line at the Goodwill drop-off door would be around the block. Our faces would cramp under the strain of all that fake smiling. We’d cry. These are not what moms want.

3D laser images of our children suspended in a hunk of glass.

Any kind of snow globe and especially not this.

 Pink gingham throw pillows that say Happy Mother’s Day.

Clothing with the words Mom, Mommy, or Mother on it. (Although I did see a “Thug Wife” t-shirt that I now must have.)

Reservations for 15 on the busiest restaurant day of the year.

Anything for the kitchen that doesn’t say Le Creuset, really.

Especially not this.

Alright, smartypants, you say. So then what do moms want?

Most of us are not in it for the Mother’s Day gifts, to be honest. A nice card, breakfast in bed, kiddie crafts and flowers are more than enough. If you want to get a gift, then something pretty, something good to eat or time away from the kids is great.

Some of the gift ideas that I do like this year are something handcrafted from Etsy (they also sell gift cards), jewelry or art from the AGO gift shop, a spa package at Ste. Anne’s Spa or anywhere local and a nice print of a special photo. She may be a mom, but she’s a person first. Just get her something that she’ll like.

What else do you definitely want or not want? So we can tell the people doing the gift giving.