When your children are small, Mother’s Day feels like a very big deal.
You get cards with misspelt words like ‘MUM I LUV YUO’ and possibly a lumpy bowl made out of clay that you have to pretend you’ll use for olives but actually becomes a home for dead batteries in the kitchen drawer.
When your children are 30 and 23, Mother’s Day feels… different.
You’re less likely to get a handmade bookmark with a teabag glued to it, and more likely to get a text at about 4pm saying ‘Happy Mother’s Day!’ followed by a separate text saying ‘Sorry that’s late I’ve been at the gym.’
And that’s fine! That’s how it’s meant to go. They’re grown up, they’ve got lives of their own, and technically speaking you can now have a lie-in without anyone asking you where their PE kit is.
But I do still think it’s nice to recognise mums at any age.
Just because your kids are old enough to own their own homes, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a little moment of appreciation. You’re still the one who knows where everyone’s passport is. You’re still the one who gets the call when someone’s had a bad day at work or can’t work out how to bleed a radiator.
Mothering doesn’t have an expiry date.
Which is why I think a small, thoughtful gift can still be lovely – especially if, like me, you have to gently remind your adult children that Mother’s Day is coming up by sending them a ‘funny meme’ that is actually a link to the Very website. Very is a veritable treasure chest of gift ideas – super quick and easy for stress free shopping.
For instance, take this gorgeous Yankee Candle diffuser. It has customisable light and mist settings and you can set a timer for up to eight hours, which basically means you can make your house smell like a spa without having to leave the sofa.
You can even set it to cycle through every colour and create your very own light show. I can also recommend it for the kitchen – particularly something like the fresh cotton scent – when you’ve cooked sausages and forgotten to switch on the extractor fan.
I am at the stage in life where ambience is genuinely exciting. Ten years ago I wanted jewellery. Now I want my house to smell faintly of midnight jasmine while I watch Location, Location, Location in peace.
And speaking of things that bring you joy – women’s slippers.
Not the sad emergency slippers you buy in the supermarket when you’ve forgotten your PE kit again as an adult, but proper, luxurious ones like the Just Sheepskin boot slippers. The kind of women’s slippers that say ‘I have raised children and now I will be warm.’
These slippers are so soft that my dog Mako seems to think they are a new friend. I can’t put them on without her wanting to come and lie on them.
Finally, if you want to lean into the ‘I am a glamorous mother with adult offspring’ vibe, then you can’t go wrong with women’s perfume.
Something like Juicy Couture’s Viva La Juicy Sucré feels like exactly the sort of gift your grown-up child might buy if they wanted to say ‘thank you for everything, including that time you drove me to a house party in 2009 and pretended not to see the WKD in my bag.’
Because even when your children are fully grown adults who can legally rent a car and complain about mortgage rates, you are still their mum.
And honestly, I think that deserves at least a pair of slippers.