Seven Great Gift Ideas for Mother's Day

Whether you’ve been procrastinating, forgot to save for a rainy day, or just don’t understand why you need to send a Mother’s Day gift (because we said so, that’s why!) you’ve gotten down to the wire without a great gift. Fear not! We’ve got suggestions ranging from fabulous to frugal, each of them eco-friendly and guaranteed to please – and yes, they’ll arrive on time.

1. The only thing moms of young children like better than breakfast in bed? Sleeping in. Take the kids out for breakfast and an early morning romp at the park. When you come home with hot coffee and pastry, she’ll be rested, refreshed, and ready to enjoy the day.
2. Spa gift certificates always fit. Nobody knows whether organic soaps, scrubs and polishes affect a woman’s health, but there’s no question natural is best when it comes to Mother Earth. To find an organic spa near you, visit www.happyhippie.com/directory/beauty.htm
3. If all her friends jumped off a cliff, would mom do it too? Maybe not, but she might bungee jump, climb a wall, visit an art museum or learn a second language if you gave her a gift certificate.
4. Whether she lives around the corner or across the world, any woman capable of repeating “eat your vegetables!” three times a day deserves a meal of her own. Buy a gift certificate online at www.localharvest.org/store/giftcert.jsp; she’ll receive it instantly and can redeem it at participating local farms. Consider membership in community supported agriculture (CSA) that will ship her monthly boxes of whatever’s fresh and in-season. If she’s more of a carnivore, spring for organic, humanely-raised meat from http://store.organicprairie.com
5. Flowers are a classic gift, but conventionally grown flowers are treated with pesticides that pollute the earth and sometimes sicken workers in the countries that provide most of our supply. The solution? Send organic flowers through one of the many online retailers, find a local grower through www.localharvest.org/organic-flowers.jsp or buy a sustainably-grown “Veriflora” bouquet, available at many large grocery store chains.
6. Better yet, consider a plant instead. Online merchants offer monthly subscriptions and decorative pots. Plants provide all the beauty of floral arrangements, but they also freshen the air and bloom for years when transplanted to the backyard. Mom doesn’t have a green thumb? Enclose a gift certificate for an hour’s gardening, and put the kids to work digging and weeding. Or skip the middleman and give her a planter filled with potting soil and fresh herbs or strawberry seedlings.
7. Stumped on a gift for the mom who has everything? How about a gift in her honor to someone who needs a helping hand? Consider the causes she feels most passionately about and make a donation in her name. Or let her choose from over a million charities by ordering her an online gift card to use at www.justgive.org/gc/index.jsp

Whether you’re shopping for your mom, your grandmother, or the mother of your children, there’s no reason to settle for anything less than special on Mother’s Day. Because she’s a mother, that’s why!