How to Get What You Want from Mother’s Day- 2018 Edition

Mother’s Day gift ideas and more 🙂 

Last year I wrote about a general rule we follow in our marriage for celebrating holidays: we simply talk about all the things we’d like to do/get/plan together! There are very little surprises for each-other. We love it this way! We may not be as romantic as some couples, but we think it works great. I don’t wait for my husband to ask what I’d like for Mother’s Day or try dropping hints… I just tell him what I got for myself! In the article, I talked about a bunch of fun gift ideas and good deals in 2017, but as soon as we published I realized I missed a huge part of Mother’s Day! That is, duh!- the ones that made you a mother– and YOUR MOM!

So- let’s chat about them, shall we?

The reason I feel like Mother’s Day is worth spoiling yourself is because we all need a little pick-me-up from time to time. It’s good for our soul! Can we expect our young children to show their appreciation for us on Mother’s Day in any tangible way? I don’t think so. Mine are still figuring out what day of the week it is!  So… it’s going to be a while ’til they develop the skills needed to show their thanks, on the day that they are supposed to! If your kids are ahead of the game- AWESOME! Can your husband help in this? Totally! Am I going to have any expectations that this should happen? Nope. I’m thankful for my husband and I love how he does things. Sometimes he is over-the-top thoughtful and sometimes not. Just in case hubby’s on a “not-so-thoughtful” year, we mothers are still worth celebrating! When we take care of ourselves, the husband doesn’t have to spend his energy stressing about what to do for the momma, which means he has more energy to show his love in a natural flow!

Now, how about our own moms? As we’ve grown into adults, our relationships with our mother has likely evolved a bit. I think it’s probably more important to celebrate our own moms now than it was when we lived at home! A little shout out to the moms in my life— I love you, and I want to thank you (both) for being so supportive! I am one lucky daughter and daughter-in-law! This blog post will also explore some additional ways to celebrate the moms in your life!

Mother’s Day is, like all holidays, commercialized. And while that commercialization isn’t a great thing, I don’t think it’s bad either! I enjoy looking forward to getting myself or a loved one a little something extra and feeling like it’s justified 🙂 So if you’re with me on that, I’ve got a ton of ideas for you– so many that I had to break the article into two parts!

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: For Your Mom

Here are some sweet ideas to show to your love:

• Pictures of your kids
• Fresh flowers and a sweet card.

I love to buy a bouquet at the store, and add a little of whatever’s growing in my yard! I arrange one jar for me and one to give to someone else!

BONUS TIP: If you are arranging flowers in jars (trying to make the flowers stretch for more enjoyment) use some raffia or ribbon to tie the stems together. The bouquet will look fuller and stay pretty while traveling to the recipient! …Continuing the gift ideas:

• A drop-by surprise visit with a favorite treat earlier that week- (she’s not expecting it and you are already covered before you even need to stress about it!)
• Invite her over for her favorite dish- ask her what it is!
• Plan an outing she would enjoy:
  • my mom loves having the whole family on a hike or walk
  • pedicures
  • lunch date
  • tea party with your young kids
  • take a class together: photography, painting, etc.
  • head to a pool with just the two of you and let her borrow a favorite book
  • a movie night, just you and her
• Memorize a favorite scripture as a family and present it to her
• Gift of service:
  • yard-work (weeding, planting flowers together etc.)
  • organizing her pantry or closet
  • a spa-style massage
• ASK HER!!! What would she like for Mother’s Day from you?

Here’s what I’ve been eyeing for Mother’s Day 2018…

This post contains affiliate links: Mommy Convos makes a small commission on any purchases made on Amazon, and we thank you for your support!

Porch Swing

Swings are what sweet memories are made of! So- I have been on the hunt, and researching porch swings! My favorite finds have been at hayneedle.com. I found some that look soooo dreamy and only ranging from $219- $450 to make my wildest porch swing dreams come true!! I REALLY wanted to give you guys a peek at them, but their photo sharing rules aren’t going to let it happen today 🙁

Thriving Motherhood Conference

You guys! This is a great opportunity– We’ve had Lisa Anderson of Thriving Motherhood guest post for us before. She has an awesome parenting Instagram account and she recently put together a physical conference featuring her as a speaker along with Jody Moore (eeek! one of my fave podcasters!) and a couple influencers. The event sold out in less than a day! So— they added another session and tickets are cheaper for the morning session (Jody will not be there for that one) but I wish I could go! Lisa has such practical, helpful tips to change how you parent and make the experience better! This makes a PERFECT Mother’s Day gift to yourself if you can make it on June 2nd in Lehi, UT.

Sandals

I’ve heard great things about the comfort and serious durability of Birkenstoks— and I think I’d love them!

Fancy Nancy Book Set

We have loved reading Fancy Nancy for my five and seven-year old girls- but think I love these books more than my kids! The stories and illustrations make me laugh out loud- they are so cute! I also LOVE that they usually have a subtle touch on developing good character traits too. Highly recommend these books! Our family has a tradition of adding to  the kids-library each Mother’s Day so we have some fun snuggle-reading time and this will be perfect!

As I was writing this, I was thinking about all of my fave things as of late, and got writing about all the things that would make a good gift… and I went a little over-board! I found eight more favorite items I gotta tell you about! Click here to read about my antibacterial silver cleaning rags, the echo dot, a powerful hand vacuum, and more! (post will go live friday!)

Here’s a teaser about the antibacterial rags:

These rags fight bacteria with tiny strands of microbial silver woven in: that means I’m not having to use chemicals to kill the bacteria on my surfaces! It’s a natural way to disinfect. Because of the silver, the same rag will also last longer in between washings- I can use the same towel for a few days and they don’t stink! Less laundry and fuss. The ones I bought run about $2 per rag.

Click here to read more about eight of my favorite things that are perfect for a Mother’s Day gift… or any girl-gift occasion!

Updates from last year:

I ordered the pack of baby bows- I’d recommend this pack for better durability- they are really fun and have held up well; and Mo Willems books never disappoint. But, the swimsuit I ordered… well I ordered it in a size “large”. And… it was made for a large-ish Asian teenager, I think?! I am 5’8″ and it was SOO tiny!!! Lol- sorry if I led any of you astray, but I have since learned my lesson and read carefully the size measurements when I order online. I keep a memo on my phone of my body’s measurements so that I can pull it up and check without even leaving the couch 🙂

If you need a great laugh- PLEASE watch this hilarious video about the Mother’s Day Fairy! It’s spot on 😉 I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day and are inspired for a few good ways to spoil all the moms in your life- including yourself!

What are your top Mother’s Day gift ideas? We’d love to hear them!

-Jenn