Not Flowers Again! - Alternative Mothers Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is not the same day all over the world, and the actual date varies from year to year too, just to confuse things. In the United States, and a large number of other countries, Mothers Day is the second Sunday in May, which in 2011 is 8th May. In the UK it is the fourth Sunday in Lent, which in 2011 is April 3rd. For full details about Mother's Day, included the dates for each country, look at Mother's Day Wikipedia page.

Before we get on to the alternatives, what are the traditional mothers day gifts?

Flowers - By far the most common mother's day gift is flowers. For Valentines Day it is roses, for Mother's Day it is often spring flowers, daffodils, tulips, irises and crocuses. 

Chocolates - always a staple, just a standard box of your mum's favourite chocolates.

Perfume - A bottle of mum's favourite perfume.

Lunch - Taking your mother out for lunch on mother's day is one of the most common things to do on mother's day, with lots of restaurants offering Mother's day specials.

If not flowers, chocolates, perfume or a meal out, what alternative ideas are there for nice Mothers Day gifts? Here are some suggestions:

1. A gift experience to do together. Maybe afternoon tea at a posh hotel or a wine tasting session or even a chocolate making workshop. Or maybe something exciting like a hot air balloon ride, the choice is endless, and there are many 'gift experience' sites online where you can choose and buy your gift. Some companies also offer a voucher, where the recipient gets to choose from a list of different activities.
2. Go see a show, go to a concert or even a sporting event together. Buy the tickets, maybe make a day of it with lunch or a couple of drinks out.
3. Buy a plant - plants last a long time unlike flowers, and there are lots of interesting and unusual plants you can choose from. Go for either an indoor plant or a plant for the garden. Maybe a small fruit bush or a strawberry planter.
4. Personalised photo gift - lots of photo developing companies have branched out into offering photo gifts too. You just upload the photo and they will turn into either a mouse mat, a mug, a photo book, keyring, fridge magnet and many more things besides. You could choose a nice photo of you and your mother, the whole family, or maybe your kids.
5. Trip down memory lane - As a general rule, the older people get, the more they like to look back to good memories. A lovely gift is to do something to revive some of those memories, maybe of your mother's childhood, or when you were young. Good ideas including taking her out for a meal to an old restaurant or cafe from her past, buy an old film or tv series that she enjoyed many years before, or pick up a bargain on Ebay from when she was younger.
6. A facial, massage or spa day. Either just for her as a special treat, or for both of you, something you can do together.
7. Cook her a meal - she probably cooked you hundreds, even thousands of meals, and maybe still does. Just for once cook her a nice meal, something where she doesn't have to lift a finger.
8. Make Time - it may seem obvious, but in today's busy world it can be difficult finding time for each other. Make the time to spend the day with your mum, go for a walk or shopping trip together, just go over for a good chat, or help her out with something she's doing.
9. Make them something handmade by you - what you make depends on your skills, but don't think you can't do anything. Bake them some cakes, muffins or biscuits; make a handmade card for them; write them a poem.
10. If you have children, get them to make something, granny/grandma will love getting something made by them. Or if you are doing a photo gift, get one made with a photo of her grandchildren.
11. Buy Something from Etsy (or other similar site) - if you don't feel like you can make something, at least choose something special that is handmade by someone else. Etsy.com is an online marketplace with thousands of crafty people making many, many different handmade products, often at remarkably cheap prices. Getting her something handmade is much nicer than some mass produced rubbish.
12. Finally, tell your mother how important she is to you and how grateful you are for all she has done for you over the years.