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| Mum and I in 2014 when we had a Mothers Day away together in London |
My readers will know that I pride myself on being organised and ahead of the game but it appears that when it comes to gifts for special days like Mothers Day I am in the minority. Tesco revealed that more than half a million (1) time-strapped Brits will buy their Mother’s Day gift on the day itself, rushing to shopping aisles just over an hour before midday, at 10.53am on Mothering Sunday.
It saddens me a little to think of all those people probably heading to their mother's house for a nice Sunday roast (that Mum has cooked) and this is when they stop to think about getting her some flowers or chocolates to say thanks for all she has done for them. Of course, those thanks shouldn't just be on Mothers Day and it is only right to show your mum that you appreciate her any time of the year but it is great to have a special day dedicated to mothers everywhere.
The wonderful thing now is that because I'm a mother too, my Mum and I have taken to spending special time together really enjoying ourselves. So this coming weekend we will be staying in London together for a girls weekend - shopping, good food, theatre and just a general catch up on our own, without any small people shouting 'Mum' or 'Nan', This did annoy my small people though as they wanted to lavish me with love on Mothers Day so we had a proxy Mothers Day here last Sunday. Can you believe that I had homemade cards, a present hunt, breakfast in bed, around fifteen gifts, fun at Petworth House and a nice meal out all orchestrated by my girls?
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| Me and my kids on Sunday at Petworth House, Photo taken by my husband |
Tesco Gift Inspiration Stations
They really did take it to the next level and make sure that I didn't receive a boring or predictable gift and guess what? You don't have to give your Mum something that is boring or predictable either. If you are not sure what to get your Mum for Mothers Day then Tesco can help you. Instead of running into a shop on the day and picking up the first thing to hand why don't you head down to your local large Tesco store on Saturday 25th March (from middy) and check out their Gift Inspiration Station.
They will have gifting experts on hand who can ask you a few questions to establish your Mums likes and dislikes and then they'll recommend a great gift for you to give, which if you are one of the 22% of people (2) who admit to having no idea what to buy, will be perfect. It might be a classic like flowers or indulgent chocolates, or it could be a recommendation of delicious items for a fancy breakfast tray or even a day at the spa but whatever it is, it will surely take the pressure off you to choose alone and feel out of your depth.
Tesco sent me a short questionnaire about my Mum and after filling it out they recommended that we have a Spa day together and how much fun will that be? That is something we haven't done together since before my children were born and I now live in a different part of the country so I can't wait to spend my voucher and choose which spa and luxurious treatments we will each enjoy. Another perfect excuse to spend time as just the two of us and I'm sure Mum will be thrilled when I tell her on Sunday.
I have to admit that I hadn't realised Tesco even offered experience days as gifts and now I know this I can imagine I'll be checking the service out more, as I always prefer to buy experiences for people rather than items they might not need.
Oh, one other thing to mention and this is a real plus point. You can change your Tesco Clubcard points for vouchers to use for gift experiences and this means you get more for your money. If you don't collect points already it is definitely worth signing up for. We even have a Tesco credit card to get more points as I love being able to boost my points and change them for 4 x the value meals and days out.
Mothers Day through the Years
Without ever having told my girls about what I used to do for my Mum on her special day my girls seem to be doing very similar things. As a child, I recall making gifts and cards for my Mum and always getting her a plant. Dad would take my brother and me to the garden centre to choose a plant and we knew we had to get one where the buds were not yet out as her favourite thing is to watch the plant blossom and then transfer it into the garden to continue to enjoy over the summer months
I remember buying lots of little gifts and making up a basket for my Mum and it made me so proud to at first use my pocket money and then later my Saturday job earnings to get the gifts. Of course, being a lover of food I baked her cakes and cooked dinner some years.
Then as a young adult once I was working I'd buy her ornaments that I knew she liked, like David Winters cottages, then Llado and more recently Willow Tree angels, We've done a bit of everything over the years - theatre vouchers, spa days, National Trust membership, meal vouchers and more recently it has been the weekend away together in London just enjoying being together.
Whatever you decide to do for Mothers Day, I hope you have as much fun as my Mum and I will this weekend in London.
Sources:
1) 1 6% of 39,727,994, the UK population aged 18-64 who buy a gift for their mother on Mother’s Day = 635,647. Source: ONS
2) OnePoll surveyed 2,000 people who celebrate Mother’s Day between 13/03/2017 and 15/03/2017.
Disclosure: Tesco are providing me with a Spa experience for my Mum and I and a Tesco vouchers in exchanging for me helping to publicise their inspiration stations in store for Mothers Day. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.
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