By
eHow Holidays & Celebrations Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Offer Mom a chance to explore a new passion. If she's spoken of an unexplored interest--such as art, music, gourmet cooking, singing or golf--sign her up for lessons. Contact local community centers, teachers or clubs for references. If she's always wanted to play the drums, rent a set and locate a teacher.
Step2
Buy a flat of plants or flowers for her garden and plant them where she chooses; or put in a vegetable garden. (See "How to Start a Vegetable Garden")
Step3
Make her sigh with a fabulous spa day or a massage certificate, or book her a professional beauty treatment.
Step4
Get her computer hooked up to the Internet, or buy her a cell phone with a family plan if she says, "You never call! You never write!"
Step5
Plant a container with a lush mini herb garden that she can snip at will while cooking.
Step6
Have some favorite family photographs matted and framed for her to enjoy.
Step7
Take her to a local gym for a sample session of yoga, tai chi or personal training sessions. Better yet, you go too.
Step8
Take her sewing machine in to get serviced.
Step9
Gather your clan and book a professional photographer to take a portrait of the whole family. Costs range widely, but expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $500 depending on the studio, and the number and size of prints you end up ordering. (See "How to Hire a Photographer")
Step10
Buy a gift certificate from a favorite store where she usually wouldn't indulge herself.
Step11
Take a walk on the wild side and buy her a pair of snowshoes (available at stores such as REI.com).
Step12
Whet the appetite of a voyaging mom with a Topo! GPS software program from NationalGeographic.com. The CD-ROM works with a GPS receiver to plan her next ultimate adventure.
Comments
eljefe said
on 3/19/2008 It's the little things that matter most - reminding them year-round of your love is the best gift of all. It can be a simple post-it note or an unexpected gift. There are sites like www.remindyourlove.com and www.redenvelope.com that make this pretty easy...and they carry some of the items mentioned above...good luck.
julie_c_228 said
on 5/4/2007 Thanks for the tips! I sweat this one every year...plus my mom's birthday is that same month. Making something yourself is always good (i do beading for example). Not always time for it, but even paiting a white mug with some funky drawings (you have special paint for porcelaine)is a good option.