Mother’s Day is coooooooooooming! And with all the additional stress moms have been under for the past year, it’s especially important to let her know how much you appreciate her by advocating for equal pay; gender-neutral, child-friendly workplace policies; sensible gun control policies; mental health care normalization; and mandatory paid maternity, paternity, and caregiver leave. (More amazing ideas here.)
Oh and also presents because large-scale societal change takes longer to deliver and is less fun to unwrap.
Because we’ve all been trapped inside our houses with our lovely families for a year, this year’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide looks a little different. We’ve realized exactly how much STUFF we have and those Amazon binges haven’t helped much. So this guide also focuses on experiences and outings that mom will love.
For the Mom who needs a getaway.
While travel is still a little bit of a stretch with budgets and vaccination schedules, there are more ways now to kick mom out of the house for a little relaxing her-time. At the top of Less Than Ladylike founder Lianne’s wishlist is a massage and a deep house clean.
And here is where I plug my latest app obsession: Thumbtack. With Thumbtack, you can research local massage therapists AND house cleaners, message them, and arrange appointments all within the app. If the mom in your life is more into relaxing fitness experiences, you can also arrange for private yoga and/or pilates instruction as well.
Many of the providers’ profiles also detail their COVID protocols so you can find a provider you are comfortable with. If they don’t mention them, don’t forget to ask about it when you message them!
For the Mom who wants quality family time.
Characterizing all moms as needing to get the fuck away from their families isn’t entirely accurate. There are plenty of moms who have been working from home, managing virtual school, and keeping everyone sane who just want to spend time with their families where they don’t have to say no to everything or keep everyone on a schedule that no one is happy with.
For this mom, head to everyone’s favorite daily deal site Groupon. There you can find deals on outdoor ropes courses, family-friendly paint nights, paintball outings, bowling coupons, rock climbing excursions, pottery classes, or escape rooms. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box! Guaranteed she’ll just be excited for a day she doesn’t have to plan everything.
For the Mom that wants to give back.
It’s been a hard year for everyone. For already vulnerable populations, this year has been devastating. If the mom in your life is feeling the empathetic squeeze from thinking about these populations, a donation to a charity she loves or even one that’s new to her that supports a cause close to her heart is guaranteed to bring tears of joy to her eyes.
After taking a spin through Charity Navigator and polling the moms in my life, here’s a starter list of charities and the causes they support if you’re looking for inspiration.
- Khan Academy: If this year has shown us anything, it’s that the education gap is bad and is probably going to get worse. Khan Academy is dedicated to providing an amazing free education to those that really need it.
- Midwives for Haiti: If you think the maternal death rate is bad in the US, you’ll be shocked at what it is in Haiti. (1 in every 80 women in Haiti will die from pregnancy and birth related causes.) Midwives for Haiti is dedicated to increasing access to skilled maternity care in Haiti by training Skilled Birth Attendants, and providing compassionate, culturally congruent maternity care.
- Wildlife Conservation Network: Let’s not forget the animals! The Wildlife Conservation Network knows that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to saving our environment so their approach is to fund local conservation experts to help them implement their best ideas for saving local animal populations.
- National Center for Youth Law: Unfortunately, not all children have access to stable, safe guardians to protect their health and welfare. Double unfortunately, many of the governmental systems designed to protect these children often make situations worse. (See: school to prison pipeline.) The NCYL has spent the past four decades trying to improve the lives of of these children by “weaving together research, public awareness, policy development, technical assistance and litigation to ensure governmental systems provide the support these children and youth need to thrive.”
- Futures Without Violence: Futures Without Violence is dedicated to ending violence against women and children. Their unique approach addresses not only strengthening protections for women and children and improving the enforcement of those laws, but also training men and boys to break the cycle of violence in their own lives that often leads to violence against their children and intimate partners.
- Moms Demand Action: Fucking hell. Let’s make gun laws that keep our kids safe when they’re at school, the park, the grocery store, the movie theater, at home, and basically interacting with the world in any sense at all.
For the Mom who wants cool shit to unwrap.
This mom may be one of the two moms above as well and, just because you’re kicking her out of the house alone or going with her when you do, doesn’t mean she doesn’t want something to unwrap.
A Less Than Ladylike gift box is the perfect solution. You can pick and choose from our cool-ass, mom-approved items to give her an amazing selection of gifts she’ll love. And you don’t have to go from store to store or brave Target by yourself.
My personal favorite selections are:
- Go the Fuck to Sleep: Y’all. My insomnia is BAD but this baby helps me relax and drift right off to sleep. Pro tip: the cold throw on this is amazing so, if you have a bedside table, you just have to open the candle and not worry about lighting it. If you don’t, pick up the melts and a plug-in melt warmer so you don’t have to worry about burning your house down.
- Fresh Out of Fucks fragrance roller: It’s bright. It’s citrusy. It’s small enough to fit in my purse. My fave candle scent is now my fave perfume. I’m obsessed. The mom in your life will be too. (Also available in many of LTL’s most popular scents. MILF anyone?)
- Fancy candy: The biggest disappointment of having older children is their keen memory for how much candy they have left over from Halloween and what specifically is included. Read: I can’t steal their Reese’s anymore. But now I can have pretty candy that tastes good and is distinctive enough that I too can accurately keep track of it and police the heck out of my kids if they try to steal it. Bonus: I get to be extra and eat GOLD.
- A new craft: No, the three drawers of craft supplies aren’t enough. I want MOAR and they must have curse words or unicorns.
The mom in your life may fall into many of these categories so feel free to pick and choose among these ideas to make this year’s Mother’s Day truly memorable.