For the first year in QUITE some time, I’ve decided not to do a Mother’s Day gift guide but instead write about intentional gifts to give. I love gift guides; I love reading them and creating them and working with the wonderful brands to help spread the word about their products and I can’t wait to dive into all the Mother’s Day gift guides my blogging pals will be creating this year.
But I’ve decided against one this year because at the time of writing this, I’m going through some very heavy mental sh*t in regards to my own self worth, my career, my blog – basically everything. And gift guides are a LOT of work. And I just don’t have that energy reserve in me right now to create a well thought out and beneficial guide.
Update 10th February 2023: My mental health is a lot better now than it was a year ago, yay!
Not the topic of this blog post, I know. But given that I’m going to be sharing some INTENTIONAL gifts that you can give this year, I felt it was appropriate to share. As it’s a very intentional decision on my part, not to create a guide this year. And I think living with more intention is something we all need to do a bit more of.
So let’s talk about intentional gifts to give your Mum or Mother figure this year for Mother’s Day.
Meaningful gifts don’t have to be physical items. They don’t need to be expensive. They don’t need to be elaborate. And I also think that giving more meaningful gifts can also help us save money in the long run too – especially after the last few years where I think everyone is a bit more cautious about their spending.
Taking a more minimal and intentional approach to holidays like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Valentine’s Day can be extremely rewarding and beneficial for you and your loved one. So here are some easy suggestions on how you can do just that!
5 intentional gifts to give this Mother’s Day:
Time
Let’s start with a good basic one. And that’s time. God, we could have a whole series of posts on time couldn’t we? But in a time where everyone is just SO BUSY and there’s so much going on with our work, relationships, personal lives, travel, self care and more, it’s not a surprise that we struggle to find the time sometimes.
So this Mother’s Day, try carving out some time to spend with your Mum or Mother figure. Dedicate some uninterrupted time to doing whatever you want together. It can be tempting to skip the “time” aspect of a holiday but it won’t be the flowers you bought her that she’ll remember – it’ll be the time spent with you.
Attention
And following on nicely, is the gift of attention. We can all spend time with people – but are we paying attention? Are we taking our Mum or Mother figure out for Mother’s Day but spending the whole time on Instagram, taking selfies or texting our partner? Time is great. But attention is better.
I think we’re all familiar with the feeling of going out for a meal with someone, only for them to be sitting on their phone the whole night whilst you’re not eating. It’s hard, I get it. Especially when so much of our lives are online now. But some of it isn’t. Some of it is right in front of you.
Interest
A bit of a different one but let’s try giving your Mum or Mother figure the gift of interest this year. What does she love to do? What does she enjoy? What are her interests? Perhaps you can base the TIME you spend with her around one of those things that she loves?
Can’t think of anything or don’t really know what she loves? Then now’s the time to TAKE an interest. Talk to her. Ask her things. Learn about her childhood, what she liked to do, what she STILL loves to do. Have a conversation, over a coffee, in the park, in the sunshine.
Bonding
If you’re the kind of person (like me) who likes to be *doing* something, then that’s no biggie. My Mum and I can rarely just *do nothing*. We feel like we’re wasting our time. So if that sounds like you then perhaps do something that’s going to be a lovely bonding activity between you.
This can incorporate almost all of the above points into one; spending your TIME together, giving your ATTENTION to the task at hand and also doing something of INTEREST to them. So get creative, what can you do together that’s fun and bonding?
Food
And finally, food. I bloody love food. I love going out for meals or cooking at home. I genuinely think food can be one of the most wonderful things to share with others. I wish the UK put more of an emphasis on mealtimes, like places like Italy and Spain do. In some countries, it’s standard to spend 3 or 4 hours having dinner with each other. How beautiful.
Related reads:
- Best Rocky Road Recipe: Quick, Easy & Delicious
- Quorn Chilli And Cauliflower Rice Recipe
- Easy South-Western Seafood Recipe
So whether that’s her favourite restaurant or you decide to cook dinner at home and put your love and care into preparing a gorgeous meal, food can be an incredibly wonderful and intentional gift idea this Mother’s Day.
Remember, that gifts don’t have to cost a thing. Seasonal holidays, like Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, even Halloween have been increasingly commercialized over the years and whilst I think it’s nice to have these special days as a reminder to show someone you care, you certainly don’t need to break the bank to do that.
Which of these intentional gifts do you plan on giving this Mother’s Day?
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First of all, I really hope you are doing much better now, Jenny. I know somethings can feel overwhelming at times, I just hope you’re managing to deal with everything on your end.
About this post, I absolutely agree with what you’ve mentioned above about time, attention and showing interest in things our Moms and Mother figures love. Recently, my Mom mentioned something to me that she had missed about us all, and I couldn’t help but think about it whilst I was reading this post.
Thank you, I appreciate that. I hope you can have a nice Mother’s Day too!
Aww thank you ^_^ x
This is such a lovely idea, especially with the cost of living going up all the time.
Absolutely! Most mothers would understand x
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been going through a lot lately. I understand that gift guides take a lot of work & energy & I’m not doing a mother’s day gift guide either.
I love the idea of giving intentional gifts because even though physical gifts are nice, being able to spend time with your mother is even better (especially since I haven’t seen my mother since before covid)
I totally agree. Gift guides are a LOT of work, especially when you don’t have the mental capacity for it.
I absolutely love this post! First of all I love the idea of being more intentional instead of just buying off some presents that she will just put in a drawer. We live far from our mom, so we really cherish when we get a chance to have a chat on our own or spend time together when we are home x
Thank you 🙂 yes absolutely, so much stuff just ends up in the cupboard!
Gifts might be fun but spending time with someone that’s where the memories happen. x
Yes exactly 🙂 x
Who wouldn’t love any of these very thoughtful gifts. I think time in particular is one that is often overlooked.
Yes I agree, time is so precious but something we never prioritise x
Giving time and attention on Mother’s Day to our mum’s is so important, what a lovely post! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you 🙂 xx
Loved this! I think time spent together is always a great gift.
Absolutely agree 🙂
I think time is the most valuable gift you can give to someone x
Absolutely!
Beautiful post and ideas! I am not sure yet exactly what we will be doing for Mother’s Day but I am sure it will involve food. One of my favorite ways to show I care!
Oh yes same! I love treating someone to a meal or cooking!
I absolutely love these priceless suggestions. Time and attention really stood out to me along with bonding. These are all more valuable than any fancy gift money could buy!
Thank you 🙂 I totally agree, the fancy gifts are nice but absolutely none beat time!
I love these ideas, being intentional is so important especially with family! I love to spend Mother’s Day painting with my mum as it’s something we both love to do x
Awh that’s a lovely activity to do together!
I am a big fan of this gift guide as, instead of offering product suggestions, it instead offers more general areas and ideas where people can find inspiration to bring to their intentional gifts! Definitely a new style of gift guide I am liking. 🙂
Absolutely, you can cater these to your own situation 🙂
Intentional gifts are the way to go! I’ve been trying to be more this way with gift giving in general because money can be wasted on material items. I think most people want to have quality time to better their relationships. As someone who lost a parent, I appreciate the gift of time a lot more. Although, I’ve gifted clothing in the past or other items like this – time is something that is priceless. what i would give to just have one more conversation.
Absolutely. Material gifts are great if it’s something personal or something they really want or need but buying for the sake of buying is never really the way forward!
I so look forward to actually spending time with my Mum again (in person). It’s been at least 6 years since I’ve seen her so being intentional with our time and the ways I can celebrate her would be wonderful if/when I move back to the UK. I love the ideas you’ve shared here — they’re great!
Oh my gosh 6 years! That’s a huge amount of time. I hope you have some really special time with her when you do see her.
I am really in favor of Intentional giving. Everything you listed are things that so quickly fall away in our lives. Connections are superficial and time is non-existent. My mom is turning 80 this year so time is something I try to be mindful of. The greatest gift we share is my daughter. Their relationship brings me such joy. And she is just so proud of her granddaughter. It’s something I didn’t have in my life with all but one grandparent passing away when I was an infant. So this year, my mom gets to have me make whatever she wants for Mother’s Day and my day will be enjoyed by more memories of my daughter and mom together.
I’m so sorry that you’re still struggling. I truly hope that you are able to find some peace soon.
I love this comment, thanks so much for sharing. The relationship between your mum and daughter sounds so precious x
Great ideas, love to spend time with y mum and do something together. It’s been a while since I done though.
Hope you get to do something soon x
These are lovely ideas, Jenny. I believe my mom will love these. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you x
I love the concept behind this post. To be honest, I don’t love gift guides the vast majority of the time unless they have truly unique ideas or things built around experiences. Fully agree with what you said about food. It’s such a throw away thing here, I love the vibe around meal times in other European countries. Unsurprisingly, food gets a not in 9/10 of my gifts but I’m very lucky that my mum is quite direct and tells me what she wants or at least hints at a couple of suggestions ahead of time usually x
I love the meal time vibes in other countries, it’s such an important part of their day but for us it’s nowhere near that.
I love using food as a lovely gift idea for someone I love, and these are fantastic ideas for Mother’s Day 🙂 x
Thank you 🙂 x
I love this! You know I am not a Mother’s day fan anymore and I don’t want cards and gifts hanging around, it’s too hard. So these gifts are exactly what I want each year.
I am sorry things are not good Jenny, but I salute you for taking a well deserved rest from something that is so time consuming. I hope things improve.
Loved being back reading a post from my favourite again x
I know Claire but I hope you can enjoy the day with your own kids and they can provide some of the things mentioned in this post. And thank you xxx
What a wonderful post!! I love the idea of giving time! We should definitely mainstream this! Thanks so much for sharing, fantastic read!
We definitely should I agree!
I completely agree with you – gift guides are so much work! Cristina had to deal with all of them last Christmas and I did help her in the end because she was about to flip. Mother’s day – with being so far from our mum we don’t do much, aside from getting our dad to buy her a plant (she loves loves loves them) and we usually shower her with love on FaceTime!
They are so much work aren’t they!
These are some really good ideas for Mother’s Day! It’s great you were able to write this blog post despite not being in the right head space. I was thinking about what to get or do for Mother’s Day so this post came at a great time. Thank you for sharing Jenny xx
Lauren – http://www.bournemouthgirl.com
Thanks Lauren, hope this post gave you some different ideas!
I love this post! I totally agree about the gift of food. I’m baking for my Mum and taking her out for lunch this year. There’s no greater gift than food!!
I totally agree – no better gift than food!
I love this post! These are such important things to do with your mum. Me and my mum spend every single day together as she’s my carer and I truly treasure that because we have such a close relationship. I’ll defiantly be keeping these in mind this Mother’s Day! Thank you so much for sharing with us lovely Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
That’s lovely that you have such a close bond xxx
I applaud you for finding the energy to write this blog post despite the mental blocks. That takes courage! Tbh I scrapped 2 blog posts I’ve been working on this week and have been incredibly frustrated with writing lately. 🙇♀️
I usually send my mom a card with some seeds for her garden. Sometimes I’ll send a gift card but she doesn’t really use them. It took her 2 years to use a Starbucks gift card I sent her with $50 on it. She always tells me not to buy her anything. I’m sure she wouldn’t turn down cookies though, like the fancy ones in this blog post. Everybody loves cookies.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve struggled with writing this week! I agree, everyone loves cookies. Maybe do that this year!