Mother's & Father's Day gift ideas?!

Cubslove12

I thought I'd see what you other ladies are planning for these holidays? I'm a FTM and it's the first grand baby. I also get a double whammy with my husbands 30th Birthday being June 14. 

So what are some great ideas for grand parents and significant others?! 

*i did already get my MIL a necklace with our birthstone color beads. Emerald,pearl,diamond(crystal). 

jayandaplus

I'm getting my mom magazines and a gift card for mother's day, because we got her a bunch of "grandma" gifts for xmas already (picture frame, this postcard kit, etc.). For DH and father's day, I haven't even thought that far out. DH has a master's degree graduation and his birthday before baby, so I have gifts for those. Glad you started this thread @Cubslove12 so I can get some good father's day ideas.

bacorrea

So I look at it like this, Mother's Day and Father's Day are *my parents* days so I don't do stuff from DD. I do that for birthdays, Christmas, etc. 

This year I've already scheduled a delivery to MIL for chocolate covered strawberries from Shari's Berries. My mom is getting bracelets from Alex & Ani. 

I haven't thought about Father's Day yet. We have college graduations, birthdays, and a wedding to get through (not to mention this birth of this baby). 

I'm not sure if DH will get me anything for Mother's Day this year. I don't really care either way. When he was deployed he sent me flowers. DD is still too young to make a picture by herself or something along those lines. For DH last year we made a picture for his office. 

Something that is ALWAYS a great gift are Shutterfly Books. I gave my parents and ILs DD's newborn pictures put together in a shutterfly book and they loved it.

jayandaplus

@bacorrea I like the shutterfly book idea!

RedInLove

I have no idea on all accounts! My sisters and I often go in on something for my parents. His parents are hard to shop for because MIL buys everything she wants for herself and FIL is so low key and laid back that he's happy with a case of beer. 

DH and I don't do big gifts for each other for these days. I got him a small smoker for his first Father's Day. Everything else has been smaller and I don't even remember what I did. 

erinh2005

For Father's Day I do a shutterfly plate with a pic of DD wearing a new "I love daddy" theme shirt and usually another small gift of something he wants. So the first three years of plates he has are just DD and this year will be DD and baby sister so I'm so excited! 

llenadevida900

I wish I had something with DD's newborn feet and/or hands. You could do something commemorative with that, but that works better for Father's Day I guess. Many of our babies will still be on the inside for Mother's Day. 

Kipperoo

I pick my own Mother's Day (and birthday and Christmas) presents. After being together 18 years, I've learned that this is the best way to avoid disappointment and make sure money isn't wasted on crap I don't want. I'm sure that this will change as the kiddos get older and want to pick stuff for me. In the meantime...for Mother's Day this year, I booked myself a manicure appointment and I'm buying a new necklace on Etsy with the new baby's birthstone. 

ETA--no clue what I'm doing for DH yet. Likely something for his desk with one of the pics of both kiddos from our newborn shoot last week. And scotch.  He's not much for gifts. 

SKZW

@Kipperoo: If you don't mind sharing: How was the photo shoot? Like, how long were you there, how was everyone's mood, how did your son act? I'm contemplating having a pro session for us 4 too. Have you seen any preview pics yet?

MrsFox2008

For Mother's Day I'm getting a chocolate cake for my mom and I to share and a small gift for her which I haven't decided on yet. Probably flowers for MIL. As far as Fathers Day for DH probably a craft from both of our girls! Which reminds me DD and I made him a cute picture frame last year and still haven't added a picture yet... oops! 

WombThereItIs

Kipperoo said:

I pick my own Mother's Day (and birthday and Christmas) presents. After being together 18 years, I've learned that this is the best way to avoid disappointment and make sure money isn't wasted on crap I don't want. I'm sure that this will change as the kiddos get older and want to pick stuff for me. In the meantime...for Mother's Day this year, I booked myself a manicure appointment and I'm buying a new necklace on Etsy with the new baby's birthstone. 

ETA--no clue what I'm doing for DH yet. Likely something for his desk with one of the pics of both kiddos from our newborn shoot last week. And scotch.  He's not much for gifts. 

This. I'm debating between getting myself a new phone and switching carriers or scotch, lol. 

I wasnt really big on cutesey baby gifts for grandparents in the first year. Hang onto that for when Christmas is coming and you need an easy out.

jayandaplus

@Kipperoo What age was Estelle for the shoot? I'm curious how it went like @skzw.

As for gifts, another idea is to look on Etsy under "father's day gift" (or mother's day gift). I found a shirt for DH that says "papa bear" I think he'd love, a picture frame for "First father's day" and a caribiner engraved for his key ring. And non baby related I got DH magazine subscriptions and a book (not that he'll have time to read). Granted, these gifts are for various occasions over the next 2 months.

SKZW

@jayandaplus: I've looked at a lot of local newborn photogs' websites & most prefer to photograph the newborn within just the first 2 weeks! I'm like, omg I didn't even leave the house for errands in that time, I can't imagine feeling like getting dolled up and smiling! But I do love the idea of family professional pics of us 4. 

saric83

We usually just send cards to our dads/stepdads and same for moms/stepmoms except I also always bring my mom potted flowers for their yard.  I've always kind of hated these days as we have four sets of parents, so trying to fit everyone in is ridiculous since we can't just do one brunch or anything.  And we have DS' and DH' birthdays in between.

So once we had DS at the end of May, we didn't do anything with any of the grandparents on the actual Mother's or Father's Day.  Last year, I was a jerk and called dibs on the actual day of on both for just our nuclear family, and we visited each set of grandparents the weekend before or after.  

As for gifts for DH, I bought him a grill on his first Father's Day, which was just a few weeks after DS was born. And last year, I got him and DS matching baseball hats from DH's fav baseball team and a whole pile of cute daddy books.  This year will be the matching hats again for our local team (DH's second fav team) and tickets for DH to go when the teams face each other in August.

I'm about 95% certain that Mother's Day is not on DH's radar yet as I keep forgetting about it.  I'm not big on presents for myself, but doing "something" is very important to me.  But his mom and stepdad will be in town house/dog sitting for one of his brothers, so that is going to complicate things a bit for us as they will expect to spend the day with us, which then means we need to fit in the other three moms too.  So it will be a shit-show, and I'm already crabby about it.  Lucky DH.

Kipperoo

@SKZW and @jayandaplus, the shoot was at my house and was done when she was 9 days old. The preview should be coming any day now...I will share on the Facebook group and pass along in a PM to anyone not on the group who wants to see them. I've used this photographer before (she did my son's newborn, 6 month, and 1 year pics), so I know I will love them. The toddler was an added complication because he's still not totally sure about new baby...we had to bribe him with jelly beans to get good pics. We started the shoot with some family pics, then pics of him with the baby (this was maybe 30 mins), then DH took DS to daycare and we did solo pics of the babe (maybe an hour), then we did pics of DH and I will the baby (maybe 30 mins), plus a feeding break in the middle. So basically 2 hours. 

I highly recommend newborn pics, knowing that some people are not keen on them. It's really hard, in my experience, to capture the true cuteness of newborns. And that first family picture is just such a sweet memory to look back on...

clebl24

I bought Mother's Day cards yesterday for my mom and MIL.  I have no idea what I'm doing for gifts, but I like the photo book idea.  I just don't know if I'll have time to put together 2 books in time.  As far as Father's Day goes, DH will be out of town for military training.  I guess I still need to think about my Dad and FIL; however, it may be easier since LO will already be here.  Maybe a nice family photo from our newborn shoot, which will be at our home shortly after baby arrives.

Is anyone else relieved about not having to make Mother's Day plans with the family b/c EDD is too close?  I hate making holiday plans with our families.  It's stressful, complicated ,and exhausting to see everyone.    I have a feeling that we'll be in the hospital on Mother's Day.  Either way, I'll be 39 weeks pregnant, in the hospital, or just getting home with a newborn so I don't feel obligated to do anything. 

SKZW

@clebl24: re not having time to put 2 books together: maybe think of it as just 1.5 books? Put together 1 whole photo book, order it, then copy the whole thing as a new separate project & just swap out the photos of those specific relatives/people, you know? That's how I'd tackle it. Just a thought!

clebl24

@skzw, that's a great suggestion!

bubsalicious

@clebl24 I totally did what @SKZW suggested for after our wedding for families. I made it so generic I really only needed to switch out 4 pictures, then also had 3 prints that were more family specific made so they could hang them up. 

march2008

I'm due the Thursday before Mother's Day so I'm considering myself exempt from doing anything more than a card this year that I'll buy ahead of time.  We only have my MIL and I figure if DH wants to do something more for her, then that's his choice but seeing as how I'll either have a newborn, be overdue or still in the hospital, I'm not worrying about anything extravagant this year.

We also have DD1's birthday to consider in June and she REALLY wants a birthday party with all of her friends from kindergarten so I've got that on my plate plus Father's Day shortly after.

Also, if you are considering a newborn photo shoot, make sure you contact a photographer ASAP. Many that we looked into were booking newborn sessions at least one month out from EDD. We are to notify our photographer when the baby is born and she'll be scheduling our session the week after she's born. With our first baby, the session lasted about 2 hours because there was plenty of time allowed to stop and feed, change a diaper, or put the baby back to sleep.

nda_roxybabe

We always go to brunch so this year I took the initiative and picked the restaurant I want and made the reservation. I figure it my first, I've earned it.
I normally get Mom and MIL a normal gift and then SIL a smaller gift. I'm not sure what this year, but last year was cute coffee mugs with a succulent inside and some other little thing. IDK what this year. I'll start thinking on that.

We don't normally do anything for Father's Day, but I'd like to this year for H. I have no idea what to get him other than the books "Wes Anderson's Bad Dads" since it goes with our theme and its humorous to us since he will  be such a good dad.

ShadeofGreen816

My grad school graduation ceremony is on Mother's Day so my parents and ILs are coming up to celebrate. I'm thinking being 38 weeks pregnant, I can get away with a card? And maybe some flowers for each of the moms. MH isn't so much on the gifts, so its probably time I start dropping some hints that between Mother's Day and graduation, I need at least SOMETHING from him! I think for Father's Day I'll probably do a keychain or something baby-related for his first Father's Day. Nothing too expensive, because we're trying to save up for a potential trip in November. 

achays11

For my mom, we usually will spend the day together and do something fun. I'm thinking the zoo this year. I usually give MIL a picture of DD. I dropped a hint of wanting a letter board to MH, so we'll see if he got it. 

My for Father's Day, it's just MH and FIL. I'm thinking of getting them both a tour of our local ballpark, since they both love the team. 

starphish18

I seem to be in the minority here, but we have never done presents for mother's day and father's day. In my family, I call my mom and dad and wish them a good day and talk a bit. On my H's side, he gets them cards.

bailey8809-2

For Mother's Day I usually buy something for my mom, MIL and all three of my sisters. This year I was thinking about making all my sisters a freezer meal and getting them a bottle of wine and making them cards saying something along the lines of "when you need a night off here's a dinner on me" kind of thing. I'll probably get my mom a bottle of wine or a gc to get a pedicure, a new charm for her charm bracelet from the baby and have DS make something for her. MIL I'll probably just have DS make her something, her family does gifts a lot more simple than my over the top family. 

No ideas for Father's Day yet! 

MiaQuiche84

I decided to get something for DH to mark his first Father's Day...it's a collection of quotes about fatherhood, and I also got a decorative box to put them in, from the same Etsy seller. Here is a link: https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1258319584

bubsalicious

Oh thank goodness @starphish18 I was starting to feel like a horrible child. I don't do gifts either, I do a phone calls. I'm thinking maybe I'll send my mom some flowers or something since it's her first alone and normally my dad did something. H use to stress about being there for every occasions and what gift to get since his mother is so picky, but he's settled down with that thank goodness. Now he usually just does a joint gift with his brothers that costs so much my blood boils. I've been planning H's first father's day and am going to get him the book "Go the F*ck to Sleep" and maybe something for his beer making kit. 

inomniaparatus2

@jayandaplus and @SKZW most photographers like to do newborn shoots no more than 10 days old. They are easier to handle and place. After that they move around a lot more and are more difficult. Our photographer does a 3 hour newborn shoot. We can drop baby off and go take a nap she keeps snacks and has a comfy couch. Then her and her assistant do everything from pictures and outfit changes to diaper changes. I also agree with @Kipperoo that in those early days it would be hard to capture cute photos when you're exhausted and baby isn't cooperating. Nice to have an outside (experienced) person to do that. 

psherman42wwsa

Like some of you I am hoping to deliver just before mothers day so I don't have to schlep the kids all around town... I might be a bad daughter/daughter in law.. but it is annoying that I don't get to enjoy the day relaxing at home spending time with my little family. I honestly don't remember what I got last year.. but the odds are pretty good that I received a card with some hand written promises of gifts from my husband (this is his go-to gift). I'm looking forward to the kids being able to make me little crafts on their own.

Last year I got my husband this sports car test driving thing. Basically he got to drive a Ferrari or Lamborghini around a racetrack. He went with my FIL & BIL's. They all loved it. Found it on groupon!

alex and ani birth stone bracelets are always good gifts for grandmas. I'll probably get my mom another one for new baby.

sweaterboots

The last couple years I've ordered from Farmgirl Flowers in San Francisco! The delivery is expensive (they're shipped overnight from SF) but they are the most unique, exotic, and fresh arrangements I've ever seen. You just have to schedule it early as their days get blocked out as they get lots of orders. My moms are always delighted... https://farmgirlflowers.com/ 
They totally blow FTD OR 1-800-Flowers out of the water. They look like blog flowers if that makes any sense, lol.

PghMom412

@lrwardrop this reminds me I think I still have a mani/pedi to redeem from my Christmas card from DH. Hmmm. 

We usually go to brunch with MIL and then have dinner with my Mom. Both are nurses so it totally depends on their schedules. As for gifts we usually make something little from DD and get them a plant/flower arrangement.

We also get DDs Godmother a gift card for Starbucks or something small to celebrate her too. 

WombThereItIs

I saw someone post a picture of this card on instagram and I texted it to my mom one day (months ago) when she was having a crappy week at work. She asked if it came in a print for her office and it turns out it does! I also kind of want all the tote bags in this shop now too. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/194046283/you-are-doing-a-fcking-great-job-print?ref=hp_rv

BabyMC517

We usually just do a card and breakfast for both. Sometimes we will send flowers to MIL since she is out of state and get my mom flowers or a plant. Depending if we see anything that would be something my dad would like we will get him something, but usually not. 

This year, I'm wondering if we should get our mom's the little gifts I wanted to give them once the little guy is here. Might be a nice gift for them. I haven't found anything for my dad yet, but I'm sure I can find something, even a t-shirt, and he'd be happy.  

lnds32

I usually get my mom and grandma a gift card to a spa or something along those lines. This year I may order a necklace for each of them from a great online shop https://lisespieces.com/

She makes really cute necklaces and bracelets that say "Nana" and "Mom" that I love. For Father's Day for my DH I will probably order him a real leather basketball with the University of Kansas logo on it. He played basketball there in college and is always saying how he wants to buy one. He plays in a local league now on weekends so he can take it to play with there. I think he will be so surprised I am actually paying attention when he mentions it! 

jpsnaps

This will be my first mother's day as a mom, but also mil's first as grandma and my sister's first as a mom. I usually just give flowers and a card.

For my sister in law, she lives in a very small apartment but has a small sunny patio. I was thinking of some kind of clever wooden pot plant holder along the lines of vertical gardening for small spaces. Probably will get something like this terra cotta pot plant hanger since it's a nice natural looking wood plant hanger - Atlas Wiildwood Redwood Three Pot Hanger. I'll have it mailed to her. For my MIL I see in person so I'll pick up some terra cotta pots with herbs for her too.

Louise_Belcher

Not sure what I am doing for Mother's or Father's day. Usually something small. Maybe a pretty welcome mat for Mother's day and something Tigers baseball related for Father's day. It's on H to figure out for his parents, especially this year. 

A cute idea that I randomly bought for my mom recently was a notepad from shutterfly with a pics of my brother, H and I, and DS that I just pulled off facebook. They have such cute notepads! I also just bought some cute coasters for myself from them. 

Hansolosparka

@starphish18 sometimes I send flowers to my mom
but this year I honestly don't feel like doing anything!  I know she doesn't really care about gifts. And I haven't seen my dad since Christmas and he hasn't asked how I'm doing or anything in the last 5 months so I don't feel compelled to get him anything. Both my parents and DHs are divorced and have new spouses or SOs and it's just a lot to try and do something for everyone. 

Thank being said my H is a generous gift giver so he will probably just send the message ms something. 

SKZW

sweaterboots said:

The last couple years I've ordered from Farmgirl Flowers in San Francisco! The delivery is expensive (they're shipped overnight from SF) but they are the most unique, exotic, and fresh arrangements I've ever seen. You just have to schedule it early as their days get blocked out as they get lots of orders. My moms are always delighted... https://farmgirlflowers.com/ 
They totally blow FTD OR 1-800-Flowers out of the water. They look like blog flowers if that makes any sense, lol.

I just placed an order, and you're right, they aren't cheap, but so so gorgeous!

There's a 20% off flash deal going on right now, for only another hour or so. I was able to use it, maybe someone else can too?

inomniaparatus2

@SKZW where might I find this flash deal you speak of?

SKZW

@SWE2: sorry for the delay!
https://www.instagram.com/farmgirlflowers/

SKZW

Looks like it goes to 1pm Pacific.