A Fathers guide to Mother’s day – what we really want

Because sometimes you just want to be told right?

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and no doubt for a lot of partners you’ll be yet to organise a gift. Whether it’s for your own mum, or the mother of your children, from my experience, men tend to leave the organisation of a gift to a little later than women. Maybe that’s a little sexist, sorry. Especially when I’m exactly the same. I’m the one having a mad panic the day before too lol.

Anyway, back to the matter in hand. So you’re after a gift to show them how appreciated and loved they are. They do so much for the family after all and bringing up kids is HARD. But what to get? There are the old favourites for gifts of course – easy gifts if you like. Flowers and chocolates for example. I hold my hands up, I have often opted for these for my own mum, but let’s be honest, whilst the gesture IS lovely, they hold no real meaning. And in a week they’re gone and forgotten about.

This year Mother’s day falls on the 31st March, which just happens to be the same day the day the clocks go forward. If you’ve been any where near Facebook in the last week, no doubt you will have seen the meme doing the rounds:

Start the day the right way

So here’s your first clue. An easy idea on how to start the day for said mummy. Get up and tend to the kids yourself! Leave mummy in bed for a an hour – or as long as she needs. Let her have a PROPER lie in. This will guarantee to get mummy in a great mood for the rest of her day. You could go one better – Breakfast. But only at a decent hour of course – don’t forget the lie in!

What else would she love though. Treasure even. It has to be something with meaning. Something related to her children.

Great gift ideas:

One of my favourite gifts I’ve had over the years was a painting that my son did. Arranged by his step mum in fact, she got a canvas and on it he painted a flower with the word mummy written. Now this is something I’m going to keep forever. Simple, easy and effective. Meaningful.

Jewellery that includes something about your children. There are lots of great options out there from fabulous companies; Fingerprint pendants. Hand or footprint pendants. Bracelets with a short text message from the child. I have a necklace pendants of both my boys finger prints which I adore. It’s part of me now. I wear it every day. I thoroughly recommend a company based in Tunbridge Wells called Babyprints Tunbridge Wells who offer this service. Their products are amazing and they offer £10 discount on any product for clients of Cosy Toes Photography.

Hand and foot casts of your little ones – you can get these in a whole manor of colours and frame options to perfectly match the other frames in your home. They capture every tiny little detail – bent toes or fingers, prints and creases. Not to mention it’s a documentation of how small they are at the time. For these I also recommend Babyprints Tunbridge Wells. Gift voucher are also available.

Plaques, signs, cushions with slogans or sayings. The options are endless. A great company just around the corner from me in East Grinstead is Something Special – Lucy’s Plaques. Lucy offers beautiful bespoke plaques with any message so you could make something really personal.

Hair or Salon appointments – AKA me time. This is what I asked for this year. I never seem to find the time to spoil myself. Even a simple haircut and colour is a struggle to get in the diary sometimes let along having nails done or a facial/spa treatment. Does this sound like your other half? Sometimes what she really needs is time to do nothing also, but sit and let someone else do something for her for once.

And then there are photos, my obvious favourite – and yes I’m totally biased. But mums are always behind the camera. Snapping away cherished images of their littles ones, but never in them. I have so many photos that I adore of my partner and my boys, but barely any of myself with them. The few I do have that I’m in are selfies – fine for Facebook, but not something you want to hang on your wall. I’m tired from running a household, business and bringing up my children, so when my other half or a friend offers to take one with me in, I’m unprepared and reluctant because I’m not looking my best. Sound familiar? But you know what, that doesn’t mean we mums don’t want to have pictures with our children. We just want to be prepared so we can look out best. We don’t want the baggy jumper with a hole in the arm-pit and baby snot down the shoulder in images we want to look back on again and again. How amazing would it to have her exist in photographs too. To have her feel like a princess even, the best mum in the world for just a moment (yes we are always questioning ourselves as parents) I know she deserves it. I know that you know she deserves it. And that’s what makes a photo shoot the ideal gift. A date and time is set. Mum can put on some make up, do her hair and even put on a dress. Book her a professional family photo shoot, or even one just for her and the children, often referred to as Mummy and Me. The photographer can capture interactions between them, loving moments. If she self-conscious about anything in particular they’ll know how to pose them to flatter and they can even reduce those tired eyes if she needs it and make her feel amazing. Let her exist in you photographs. Ge one to hang on your wall even, One day your children will adore looking through them seeing what mummy looked like when they were small. And you know the best bit about this option….. yes there a slight sales pitch for my own business here……There is still time to book in before Mother’ day and organise the session sometime soon in the future 🙂

What ever you decide on, make sure you throw in a few small gestures throughout the day too. Make dinner, change the toilet roll after it’s finished. But most importantly, tell her what an amazing mum she is!

If you want any more info on any of the above, please do drop me a message. I’d be happy to help.