What to Get Mom for Mother’s Day

Let’s be honest for a quick second, just because we are broke doesn’t mean we get to skimp out on mother’s day. You’re an adult now—time to start saving up for mother’s day gifts like the rest of us. I’m not saying that you need to spend $1,000 on your mom, but a little planning on your part wouldn’t hurt. Your goal is to make sure your mom knows how much you love and appreciate her. Think about how great a person she is, especially since she had to deal with you as a kid. 

No mom is the same, obviously, but they all have their love languages. So here are a few ideas, some budget-friendly, that you can do come May 9th. 

Acts of Service 

My mom’s love language is acts of service. If you want to be on my mom’s good side, then you do something for her. It works out for me because she is also the most complicated person to get gifts for, and I pride myself on being a great gift giver. 

So what do I get the person who I never know what to get her? I clean her house. I wash her car. I pick up the backyard. I find something that needs to get done, and I do it for her. 

Out of the things you can do for your mom on mother’s day, this is probably the easiest one to come up with an idea for but the most labor-intensive, but that’s just the pros and cons. If your mom’s love language is acts of service, then this is the move. Trust me. She will brag about you to all of her friends. 

Quality Time 

If your mom loves spending time with you as a form of love, then spend some dang time with her. It can be as easy as getting all dressed up and going to a fancy brunch place. 

One idea I have in my back pocket as a gift (not for my mom) is finding one of those fancy high tea places that make you wear fancy hats and eat little cucumber sandwiches. Just pander to what your mom likes. I bet there is a place she loves to eat that the rest of your family probably hates. My mom’s drug of choice, I mean restaurant, is Seasons 52. My sister and I hate that place. It’s the bougie Panera, and I stand by it. But my mom loves that place, so we like to take her there for her birthday or whatever other special events might be coming up. 

Or if your mom is anything like my mom, then there is probably a boring movie she has wanted to watch that no one else wants to watch. Watch it with her. Quality time means setting aside some time with your mom doing what she wants, whatever it might be. It’s her day, not yours. 

Words of Affirmation

I have a hard time expressing myself verbally. Good luck getting me to admit to any emotions out loud. (I’m working on it.) But if you give me some time, I can muster up the strength to write out all the cheesiness inside of me. So if you are like me, tell your mom how much you appreciate her, then write her a letter. I wrote a blog about how parents need to stop treating their 19-year-old kids like they are 5. And in that whole blog, I bragged about how awesome my mom is. For 1000 words, I straight up said that my mom is better than most other moms. I know writing can be kind of daunting for some people, but you need to find a creative way to express to your mom how much you love her. 

Receiving Gifts

Gift giving is probably what most people do on Mother’s Day. The standard is flowers. Getting your mom a bouquet is a must. But outside of that, what do you get someone? Like I said earlier, my mom is super hard to shop for, even though everyone else in my extended family disagrees. She is the type of person where if she wants something, she will get it for herself leaving her kids scrambling for gift ideas come Mother’s Day, birthdays, and Christmas. The trick is to find something that makes you think of them. Maybe you get her the thing that she has been looking at through the window at the mall. Perhaps you put together a care package of all her favorite things. (Chocolate, tea, bath bomb, etc.) Or maybe you make her something, and I don’t mean a macaroni necklace. Just make sure that whatever you do get her is heartfelt and thoughtful. Getting a pair of socks as a gift is a bummer unless they are those fancy Bombas Socks. Those things are the best. 

To sum it up

No one is going to know your mom as well as you do. She raised you, loved you, and dealt with you at your worst, so the least we can all do is make them feel like the queens that they are. Treat your mom this year. She deserves it. 

And if you need help on gift ideas, then read my article on gifts for hard-to-gift people.