Including the BEST Mother’s & Father’s Day gifts!
Here’s a bit of a disclosure–I love to celebrate!
I love to celebrate birthdays!
Valentine’s day!
Fridays!
Thanksgiving!
Summer!
You name it–I love it! Are you one of my people? Do you love to celebrate too? I usually take care of most celebrations in my household, but I can’t really take care of my birthday and Mother’s Day, one really has to let others have a moment to plan a party too.
However the problem is, not everyone wants to plan a celebration! Sigh!
I’m pretty sure my husband began to resent my birthday…AND Valentine’s Day AND Mother’s Day years ago. Probably because I was eager in anticipation for the fun and to him, those dates just seemed to be something more on his over filled to-do list. He felt like he loved me and didn’t want to be cajoled into expressions dictated by society. Well, while I do understand him and know he is busy, I think it also sounds a little like Dr. Suess’ Grinch, who sits on the hill complaining about the mirth in Who-ville. Not everyone is on the same page for gifts, parties and fun!
Luckily, despite feeling obligated, my husband does a great job making special days special! Lo and behold would you believe he (closet superstar that he is) came up with the coolest Mother’s Day gift all on his own!?! And honestly, once you have a cool idea like this one that is versatile and reusable you have hit the jackpot! Because you can recycle this gift idea with a fun little word called tradition! Yea! Win-win!
And while I should build up to this great idea, I am going to start with it:
- Gift cards/certificates for Mommy Dates (Favorite right here!!) This idea is genius and oh so versatile! My hubby would take our kids to the store and they would peruse the gift cards. Everyone tried to think of Mom (and a bit of themselves) thinking of what would be a fun date to do together. I have five kids! (Loads of parties right there alone!) For Mother’s Day, from one I received a $15 gift card from Subway for sandwiches (that kiddo’s favorite), from another I received $15 to a smoothie store. From one of my daughters I received a $25 gift card to Michaels, where we picked out a fun craft to create together. You get the idea. Admittedly, this idea is not inexpensive. You could get pretty spendy with it, we obviously try to keep it reasonable, but the time spent together with each individual child is priceless. Memories—that’s this true magic of this gift! My hubby has done this Mother’s Day gift for several years. Each year is a little different and both the kids and I look forward to it! Dan loves it because he has a plan that is not too hard to execute. Yea! A Mother’s Day Tradition! Also please notice this could be put together the day before! (I just heard an audible sigh for that perk!)
Plan a Mommy Date!
2. Service Coupons! So a variation of this theme is what I do for Dan for Father’s Day. About a week ahead of time, I ask the kids what they would like to give their dad. They know I’m not going to fall for buying them gift cards again because Dan’s love language is acts of service. He really loves anything taken off his to-do list. So we attempt to do this for Father’s Day. The kids think of something they could do for Dan that would lighten his load. Then we write each of these up into the form of a coupon (expiration within the month, so it’s not forgotten!) One daughter ironed 10 shirts for her dad, a toddler straightened up all of daddy’s shoes (and felt so proud), one of our boys offered to do any yard work of Dad’s choice. Dan loves them, because he feels the love and I love them, because I’m teaching my kiddos that love doesn’t come from a store (another Grinch reference for you Dr. Suess fans) The sky is the limit on this idea. As some of my kiddos have gotten older, they are more likely to offer a coupon of taking Dad to lunch, which is also a big hit!
3. Design a Date! This one I really love and have used a couple of times for birthdays and the like. Come up with a menu for a day date with your significant other. Then give them the menu ahead of time, this allows your love to consider their fun options and choose from the menu. (I have sometimes been surprised at the activities that have been chosen!) Even coming up with multiple choice items for the activities gives variety to your dating life. One year I remember we ended up going roller blading in the morning at a fun park, then throwing frisbees, having a picnic in the park, then wandering later to a fun movie and then to dinner. It was such a blissful date! So your menu might look something like this one below, or be amazing and create one on your computer! Make sure to take a few pictures to chronicle your amazing gift giving ability! This can be a menu drafted for a spouse, a child, a best friend! You choose!
4. Personalized Photo Books! I LOVE this idea. This comes from my amazing sister. Are you seeing her adorable littles? Such happy exuberance right there! She has created these customized photo books for her hubby a couple of times for his birthday, but obviously this could be used for any occasion. The very best part of her books are the cute quotes from her kids. I.E. What do you like most about Daddy? What does daddy do for work? What does daddy like to do with you? Then her kiddos of varying ages 10 years old to newborn answer in the best way they know how, which makes for a treasure. Everyone of all ages in their house loves these books! Pure clever cuteness. You can buy these books from dozens of different companies such as snapfish, shutterfly, Walgreens, Costco and etc.
Personalized photo books with the cutest part being the thoughts of the kiddos for their dad.
5. Book of Memories! Last but not least is not a last minute project, (sigh) but could be pulled together in just a few days with cooperative people. (I know this can be a challenge!) This idea is a book of memories. This makes the perfect gift for those who have “everything” and couldn’t possibly use one more “thing!” You ask everyone to write down their favorite memory (or just a positive memory–sometime people get hung up on the word “favorite!”) then you compile these memories into a book or binder. The gift can be so simple as sticking the letters into plastic sleeve protectors in a binder or a slightly more complicated version of typing it up. This makes a great photo book printed through Costco too, if you are looking to create a bound copy. I personally love to see people’s handwriting. I feel just seeing someone’s writing jogs memories. Sometimes these books are done for a funeral or at a funeral called a tribute book, but I say it’s better to share happy memories while people are alive! I created a book for my dad when he turned 60, gathering letters from siblings, children, in laws and grandchildren. Compiling all of those delightful memories together was a treasure! My dad loved it. You could add pictures to this memory book, but those words of loved ones can also stand beautifully alone.
Did I miss your favorite idea? If I did- please share. We all love a new idea!
Here’s another favorite idea that might work as just the right gift!
Congrats, Kim! Doing the Lord’s work by sharing your talent and successes. You are a great example of a (almost) perfect Mother, Wife, Daughter, Friend, Sister, Child of God. THANK YOU!
Awesome! Great ideas! I especially like the date menu!