Choose the perfect gift for your mother.

Even a mother who grouses that Mother’s Day is a made-up holiday knows how important it is to her family to celebrate her very special day. Planning dinner or a picnic, serving breakfast in bed, taking family pictures and buying flowers all tell Mom what a wonderful person we think she is. But more than anything, we would like to come up with a unique gift that says something special about our feelings and something special about our mother.

If your mother is like most, she will say that she really doesn’t need anything. For us as gift-givers, that can mean either ‘oh, dear’ or ‘hooray!’.  ‘Hooray!’ is definitely the best response because it lets the giver choose a really unique gift. Goodbye to nice practical machine-washable sweaters and hello to a stunning pashmina stole. Farewell to practical bath-towels and hail to a truly cushy bath and after-bath robe. A new mom who prides herself on no-nonsense attire will melt at the sight of mother-and-baby bracelets with their names engraved. A new mom or the mother of several will forget all about made-up holidays when you make it possible for her to rock the newest arrival in a cozy cushioned glider-chair. 

The Search for a Unique Gift

If the stores you patronize seem low on luxury and high on price (or if you and your mother regularly shop at the same stores), you can find your way to something unique through catalog shopping. Boutique-style catalogs in particular do the work of collecting the best of the best and putting it at your fingertips. Is your mother a party-giver? A sportswoman? Does she bristle at mess and disorganization? Would she rather relax and read than anything else? Boutique catalogs offer unique gift ideas for all kinds of mothers and enable you to recognize your mother’s special qualities in a loving way.
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A good boutique catalog will help you find a great gift in another way ? by giving you gift ideas that might never otherwise occur to you. If your mother works at home (never mind, all mothers work at home!), a really comfortable and elegant chair for her home-office, a handsome desk organizer or even a replacement for the improvised desk she now uses convey your appreciation of all she does in a genuinely solid fashion. 

Personalized Gifts

Something else to consider when choosing a Mother’s Day gift is the added luxury of personalization or monogramming. For Mother’s Day or a birthday, monogramming or personalizing a gift is well worth considering. A beautiful monogram, on a pendant, a bracelet, stationary, sweater or robe, says ‘you are special’ in a truly unique way. Trendy reading glasses (who says glasses have to be dull?) in a personalized case may be just what your mother needs to answer that endless ‘where did I put them’ refrain.

Many items you might not think can be personalized or monogrammed, from carry-all bags to golf-club covers to jewelry. You may even be able to find an embosser, which lets your mother do her own monogramming, for personal stationery, gift-tags and book-plates. An embosser and a collection of high-quality decorative stamps along with some interesting craft-papers makes a luxurious and unique gift that even the craftiest mother is unlikely to buy for herself. Consider combining catalog shopping with help from your local photo shop, and surprise your mother with a beautiful frame for a newly-restored snapshot of her mother, herself as a child, or you.

Every mother is different, but in one way they are all the same. On Mother’s Day they are all recognized for the part they have played in one of the most important relationships we will ever have. Few gifts can compare with all they have contributed to our lives. No matter ? “Hooray! Hooray for Mother’s Day!”