Five Marvelous Mother's Day Gifts

by Susie Cortright

What do moms really want?  For starters, you'll want to avoid the Vacuum Cleaner Effect. You don't want to give a mother anything that has to do with cooking or cleaning.  It's also important to give a mom something that will help her enjoy herself in her daily life--something that she can't turn around and use for someone else. With those two rules in mind, here are five great gift ideas for the moms on your list.

1. A Spa Gift Certificate

A gift certificate to a local day spa ensures that

she'll take a little time out for herself. (Make sure

to throw in a personal offer to take care of her kids

while she indulges). Here's a website that will get

2. Something to Help Her Sleep

Quality sleep can be a problem for mamas. Consider

giving her a natural sleep aid or two. One idea is

the Serenity Set ($50), silk aromatherapy

neck and eye pillows containing soothing lavender

with complementary herbs packaged with a

60-minute CD, "Adagio Music for Relaxation."

For $99 more, you can pair it with the Dreamate Sleep

Aid, which will normalize her biological clock to

reduce insomnia. The band works by delivering a

micro-massage to specific pulse points--known as the

Sleeping Golden Triangle in traditional Chinese

medicine. These sleep aids are both available at

3. Scrapbooking Supplies

Lots of moms love to scrapbook. It's a great way

to express ourselves, plus it shows our families

how much they mean to us. But it's hard to find

the time. Give the gift of creative inspiration

with some good scrapbooking materials that she

won't want to wait one minute to use. A few rolls

of film (or some good photo paper if she's got a

digital camera), an album or two, and a three-month

subscription to an auto-delivery program that brings

new themed scrapbooking materials to her door every

month is a great gift idea. Here's one such program

that comes highly recommended:

or check under "what's new" here for Mother's Day gift

sets filled with elegant papers and accessories,

even a special album:

4. Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Treat her to a pretty centerpiece or wreath of dried flowers.

The web has all kinds of flower stores, but

1800flowers.com gets my vote for the most talented

floral designers.

Here's the direct link to Mother's Day specials:

5. Something Eternal

Give mom a star of her very own this year. You choose the constellation

(what's her sign?). Packages start at $39, and come with a certificate,

constellation map, a mythological explanation of her star, and a map for

locating her star in the sky, from the Universal Star Council.

Here's the link to special package prices for Mother's Day:

Need more ideas?

Surprise.com is a well-kept secret. Here, you'll

find categories of perfect gifts for a wide variety

of tastes, characteristics, and quirks. (The site

even has a category of gift ideas for "people who

are always cold" and "people who want a little peace

and quiet," which, come to think of it, describes

more than a couple of moms we know.

Of course, you mothers should feel free to share this

article with anyone who is in the position to buy

these things for you.

Happy Mother's Day!

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About the Author:

Susie Michelle Cortright is the author of several books for women

and founder of Momscape.com, a website designed