Looking for gift ideas for a busy mom. What makes your life easier? Restaurant gift cards, gift cards for services like laundry, gadgets? I would love ideas for things I might not have thought of!
What about a gift of relaxation and "me" time for a busy mom?
Theater or movie tickets, concert tickets, mani-pedi & lunch?
Personally I like receiving gifts for things that help me relax and make me feel better, things I never (or rarely) buy for myself, salon certificates! A facial or mani/pedi is nice but a massage is the BEST.
What OnePerfectOne said -- "me" time activities etc. Add in an offer to babysit while the mom enjoys herself solo or while she and her husband go out. Let us know what you end up getting her!
An offer to watch her kids!
A crockpot makes my life easier.
A battery pack you can keep in the car that will charge your cell phone,
iPad etc. It's a small device. Has saved me many a time. You can search it on Amazon or just google it to find where you can locate it near
you. Try googling "portable battery charger device".
Maybe a girls night out with you at an upscale place for cocktails and dinner? OR for her and her hubby.
Bottle of great wine.
Spa day to recharge and renew?
Housecleaning service is a nice gesture but I am picky and don't care for housekeepers, etc in my house. In the past, they have been too rough with some of my things (wiping down wood blinds in record time which in turn warped a couple of my blinds)
For Christmas, we found a charger on Mophie. It is about the size of an index card and not quite an inch thick. You keep it charged up and then you can charge your phone, laptop, IPad, etc with it. It has 2 ports so you can charge 1 things at once. I keep it charged up and keep it with me so if my phone starts getting low, it is in my purse ready to go. I paid $130 for each of them and they come in black or white.
Not too long ago, I bought stun guns for myself and my daughter. I keep it in my purse and when I go to the mall, etc I carry it in my hand. It looks like a cell phone I am carrying but I have some great charge. I park far away in parking lots to avoid someone dinging my nice car and around here in Dallas at some of the high end shopping areas, women are jumped for purses, cars and jewelry.
I don't know if any of those would be a good fit for you. I hope you find what you are looking for!
Something I recently bought at Costco was a magnet board with little organizing containers that magnetically stick on the board. (or you can put them on your fridge) OMGooooodness it is such a time saver!
I tried buying a few more on line and couldn't find it but I am sure you can find something like it at other stores. I have seen people put dried herbs in them as well.
It has about12 small circle containers and it keeps my, rubber bands,paper clips, magnets, push pins, box tops for education squares etc all organized and up on my cabinet wall.
My crockpots are my best friend!!(yes..I use multiple at the same time) Maybe include some of your favorite recipes or the ingredients to a yummy recipe...or crockpot websites.
Paper sorting center (stackable rack type thing) I bought mine at an office supply store. One rack is designated for each of my kids and I throw their individualized paper work in their then sort through it occasionally.
Something else I love, love, love and get tons of compliments on is a decorative hanging file rack from Wisteria.(great company) It is one piece that hangs vertically on a wall and comes with about 12 beautifully decorated file folders. It hangs near my kitchen and I organize household stuff in it. A file folder for dental/medical, Veterinarian, Take out food info,Pest Control, recipes, upcoming vacation info etc.
My MIL made large batches of chili and soups, put them into meal-sized containers (she cans, but you could also freeze), and gave them to us for Christmas. It is so wonderful! After a crazy work day, all I have to do is pull out some bread and heat up the soup/chili, and dinner is ready!
Gift cards for restaurants are nice, but they still entail getting into your car with kids and going somewhere to either eat out or pick up the food to bring home. Some days, when I get home I just want to be HOME. That's why I love my MIL's gift.
I second the crock pot - life saver!
Also having gift cards is helpful for those times when I don't plan ahead well enough to use the crock pot...so a quick stop doesn't cost me a fortune.
I wouldn't mind a cleaning service!
Mostly though, it's the people I couldn't do without. I can reach out to a whole bunch of people for help when I'm really in a bind - and that's my biggest life saver.
What about a subscription to one of those meal planning websites? They have them where you can click on recipes and it generates a grocery list for you. You can even set it up to pull coupons for the items on your list. I think you can set your preferences and have it suggest meals for you. I have been meaning to look into this, I just don't have the time...lol!
This may not be what you are looking for and it can be very pricey, but my brother got my parents 3 months of a personal chef for Christmas. Now they have a young woman who comes in twice a month and makes a weeks worth of meals plus a few healthy snacks for them. My mom freezes some of the meals to use later and they enjoy some of the meals and the snacks right away. On the off weeks, my mom still gets to enjoy cooking, and has a few backups for when she doesn't want to cook.
If that isn't an option, one way to save imd that I use is to make larger batches of meals and freeze them for later use. It's not practical to do this with all meals, especially if salad is our main dish, but I can freeze spaghetti, or lasagna for later use.
I'm anxious to see other ideas people have. I like the crockpot suggestion and use mine a lot.
Megan S. - I am so looking into a personal chef. Even if the cost is crazy and I cry a little, I HAVE to check it out!!
I second a Spa gift card. Use Yelp too find one with a good quality to price ratio in your area.
Otherwise I would say a giftcard to something Bed, Bath and Beyond. She knows what she needs for her house.
Neato automatic vacuum and Scooba Automatic Mopper
Crock Pot
Groupon for cleaning service
Freezer Meals I can pull out and throw in oven
Travel activities or toys for kids
Grab and go snacks and drinks
My crock pot, and Peapod.
I could not function without either.
A Roomba. I haven't had to vaccum since I bought it, and my vacuum used to live in my living room, because the pet hair was killing me. I LOVE my Roomba. Best purchase ever.
