Things I Love Thursday: All the MAMAS

I was a little last minute Lucy with Easter baskets, so I'm considering the timing on this one an improvement. Still cutting it close, though. If you're shopping for a Mama, get on it this weekend. Especially the greeting cards. It can get awkward when the pickins' are slim.

This post was difficult because we Mamas are all so different in terms of what we like. So read this loosely. Maybe you will want an exact product below for the mothers in your world, or maybe it'll spark some creativity and you'll hit one out of the park with a tailor made Mother's Day gift winner.

When it comes to Mother's Day gift giving, stick to these two rules:

1. Let her know you see her and hear her.

Meaning...if you've seen her struggling to get meals together because she's in a busy season with kids' sports, tell her you're cooking/ordering in/making reservations for the next week.

If she's mentioned she needs a manicure, schedule that thang already, and be awesome.

2. Act like you know her.

Don't fall victim to the Mother's Day ads that say she needs red roses and birth stone hideousness. If you know Mama wants a day alone at the outlet mall with an Aunt Annie's pretzel and Starbucks in hand, make it happen, and thank the Lord you don't have a high maintenance mama to please.

With those rules in mind...here are some things to get the wheels turning...

1. Flops with Flair

Glitter flip flops and a pedicure? 

You'll be her favorite child forever.

2. Take a Seat

Some ladies like to be with their children and do family stuff on Mother's Day. Other moms be like "I have you 364 days. We good. Today is mine. Mama out."

This gift covers both.

Let's go to the beach or hang at the park!

or

Bye, girl. Enjoy your peace and Vitamin D.

3. Cheryl's Cookies

I don't know who Cheryl is, but she has the whole cookie thing figured out.

A box of these have arrived at our home the past two Christmases (thank you, Fausers) and the other day I found myself counting not how many months until Christmas but how many months until the cookies arrive again. Hopefully. (no pressure, Fausers)

Tradition can be fun. 2019 might be the year Cheryl's cookies started arriving on Mother's Day. Don't look back.

4. Rainbow of Relaxation

Why their product image is upside down, I'm not sure, but yes, it's driving me nuts.

Pool float paired with a card that says "You're such a fun mom. This made me think of you", and it's all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows for at least the rest of the day.

5. Beauty on the Regular

Ipsy is a monthly beauty box for $10/month. Never tried it, but it wouldn't make me sad to receive this as a gift with a note that says, "Whoever thought Mother's Day came once a year hasn't seen you as a mom. You need gifts on the regular." 🤷🏼‍♀️

6. Custom bracelets

Have these. Love them. Wear them with pride and honor almost every day. Also, it's a great way to let your kids know who is in your good graces. If a son (or 4) has scorned me, I move their bracelet to my left wrist of doom.

I'm pretty sure this isn't emotionally damaging at all and that Focus on the Family will ask me to write a book about it soon. 😬

I'm also kidding.

7. Only Hat You Need

This was a love at first sight kind of purchase for me this past Sunday. Saw it as I approached the store window, friend confirmed "oooh...that's YOU", grabbed it, bought it and was out the door in less than a minute. No lie. (Right, Amanda?)

I didn't even try it on.

Because I didn't even care if it looked bad.

I was now in a relationship with this hat, and love is a choice.

I was determined to make it work.

But turns out, this hat is pure magic and has some sort of unicorn-spun elastic lining that has mastered the impossible balance between holding on tight enough to withstand moderate boat winds and not giving you a migraine.

All of this to say, Pistil is doing good things in the hat world, and Mother's Day might be a good time to score one for a special mama who's a hat lady.

8. Good Answer, Good Answer! (Please say that like you're a contestant on Family Feud)

There is not a correlation between what you spend and the greatness of the gift you give. Usually.

Dads, get your kiddos to fill these out, but please, please PROOFREAD.

Spelling errors are okay. They're learning.

Answering "She is....squishy."  or "She makes me feel....like barfing."

Not okay.

But most of the time their sweet little answers will give a Mama all the feels, especially on the risky Fill-in-the-blank sheets that ask how old they think Mom is and they answer with a glorious 19.

9. Funny T Shirt

Humor is my love language. My defense mechanism. My comfort zone.

But even for me, there's a time and a place for it.

This shirt?

Yes. Funny. Poignant. Safe zone.

But this one?

I'm not sure how else to say this, but if you purchase this for baby mama on Mother's Day, then somewhere in your life there was a fork in the road, and you went wayward and settled in the Land of Idiots.

We've discussed the No-No T Shirts for Baseball moms.

Well, here's the No-No T Shirt for Mother's Day.

And every day other day.

I'm really not even sure why this exists.

10. Basket of Possibilities

Load up a basket of Mom's Favorite Things.

Haribo Gummy Bears, Ice Breaker Cubes (Peppermint), a golden retriever puppy that is house trained, gift card to Gigi's Boutique (@gigisofbluffton on Insta), new workout leggings that don't smell like seven years of sweat buildup, some retro Jordan 3's if you're feeling it.

Whatever you know she loves.

This isn't art class. Grades aren't given on creativity here.

Stay in the safe zone, and get what she loves.

11. I'm Not a Regular Mom, I'm a Cooler Mom

Yes. I know we covered bags last week.

But I didn't see this one until now.

You could do the same with this bag as the basket above.

Or fill it with ice and her favorite poolside snacks and beverages and send her with a friend to the pool for the day.

12. Send-Her-On-a-Trip-Where-She-Can-Sleep-In Bag

If you're the confident type, purchase a weekend wardrobe for Mama, put it in this bag, and get her out of dodge.

Warning: You have to commit. Not to the weekend getaway. But to being an amazing gift giver for every Mother's Day hereafter. You have raised the bar to new heights.

13. For the Jokester Mom

This is for the Dads to give. Only if she can take it.

But for some added security that she won't take offense, write on the inside cover the following:

So glad the kids have you to undo all of the things that I do in this book. 

You'll both get a laugh.

And then you'll read it together and realize you're not as terrible of parents as you sometimes feel.

14. Rare Piece of Good Mom Jewelry

I get it.

Selecting a gift for the one who birthed you or raised you is no small task. 

You want it to have meaning.

But you should also want it to not look like straight garbage.

I just took a poll of my brain and roughly 90% of mom jewelry falls in the not beautiful column.

Mismatched plastic birth stone color, odd symbolism, the pressure to personalize.

Keep it simple.

This customizable necklace does the trick. 

If it were mine, I'd rather have my kids initials than MAMA but whatever.

This is a hard no.

It looks like a nun holding a baby turtle.

Also a hard pass on this.

Too many rings and engravings and metals and ugly.

15. To Pair with the Other Relaxing Beach Items

These are great. 

Don't get me wrong.

But I messed up my TILT photo collage last night when I was putting it together and just realized it. #RealLife

Maybe good for the practical mom. Just a good ol' pair of flops.

But glitter flops at #1 still get my vote. 

Cause she's extra. She deserves some bedazzlement.

16. Unappealing Picture, but Shari's Berries Don't Play

I feel like mail order gifts get a bad wrap sometimes.

Like it's a cop out gift.
Kind of like Christmas popcorn tin.

But have you ever tried that popcorn? It's amazing, and all of the naysayers need to find a new playground.

Despite what this photo may suggest, Shari's Berries are delicious, too.

For the super busy individual looking for something for Mom that's great but also convenient, here you go.

Might as well stick a Post It on the box, too, that says "ALL FOR MOM" so that the offspring know that the backburner is theirs today.

Mama can hide in her closet with the berries if she want to.

(Aside: Wouldn't it be fun if Shari and Cheryl were sisters?!?)

What about Grandmama?

Honestly, why do anything different that what we've discussed already?

Let her know you love her and hear her and see her for all that she does for your family, and act like you know her.

I googled "Mother's Day gifts for grandmothers" and the gifts pretty much all looked similar to something like this:

If you know Grandma would love this, then go for it! Absolutely!

Just be careful not to buy what the internet is feeding you. According to Google, all that's out there for Grandmothers are engraved wooden frames and clothes that look like they came from Cracker Barrel.

Again. Totally on board if that's what Granny's into.

But these are the days of Nanas and Gigis and Mimis and Honeys.
The hipster grandmothers with hobbies and fashion sense and horizons that span beyond the world of things like this

Let's treat them as they should be treated.

Get after it, y'all. May 12th. It's her day. Let her shine!

And P.S. My Mama is the best girl I know. I'll tell you again on May 12th, Mom, but I'd be remiss to write a post about honoring moms and not take a moment to honor you. You're the kindest, most thoughtful, blue-eyed beauty in all the land, and there's a zero percent chance I could love you an ounce more than I already do.

Thank you for birthing me (no pain meds, either, y'all. Mama might be little, but she's fierce.), for dyeing Easter eggs with the boys because you knew I wanted to but had a super busy week and couldn't, for always telling me you're proud of me and for listening to me gab on the phone for hours. I'm so grateful God chose you as my Mama.

You're simply the best.