Thanks For Giving Me Life, Mum

I’ve bought my mum  Mother’s Day gifts for, ooh, approximately 27 years of my 32 (I assume Dad took care of the first few – thanks Dad), and it’s a present I always enjoy giving. I’ve understood why in the years since I’ve become a mum myself: though it’s the best job in the world, the early years in particular can be quite thankless so it means the world to have your children say “Hey mum, thanks for giving me life!!”.

It always kind of baffled me that on the anniversary of the day you perform nature’s miracle of ejecting a human melon-shape from your body you only celebrate them, not the birth-battle you went through, so to have a day that’s all about mamahood is so lovely.

My children embrace Mother’s Day with abandon – cuddles, cards and sweet gifts a-plenty – and it’s seriously one of my favourite days of the year. And because it means so much to me I always make sure I translate that into gifts, thoughts and gestures for my own mum, the one that ejected my own human melon-shaped person out of her body all those years ago. I appreciate the gift of life, Mum!

I’ve bought my own Mum’s Mothering Sunday gift from John Lewis most of my 27 present-buying years, a shop that for our family has been a stalwart figure when it comes to special presents and occasions. When I was younger I’d go there with mum to take my Grandma out for the day to shop, and we’d spend hours perusing the departments (Haberdashery was her favourite!) before going for a coffee – a cappuccino was trés chic back in 1999 – and to be given a coin bag full of 5ps to spend on a treat for myself. I love that I visit that same John Lewis with my own kids now: it’s been refurbished and the coffee shop is slightly smarter, but they still sell the same Haberdashery and cappuccinos. And it’s where Elfie bought me my own Mother’s day pressie last year, the Emma Bridgewater ‘Mum Is My Hero’ mug that I drink tea from every day.

This year John Lewis asked me to think of the gifts I’d like to give my mum this year, to which I replied “awesome, it’s what I do each March anyway!”.

To help all of us in our quest for the perfect present, this year they’ve created some categories that we can browse to help us decide. Whether your mum is fashion-forward, tech-savvy or a foodie (Elf and Hux, if you’re reading this one is me!) – there’s a gift for everyone.

My own mum’s life has changed a lot this last year so I wanted to give her a Mother’s Day gift that acknowledged and reflected that.

With my dad retiring and him purchasing a mid-life crisis (I jest. Kind of) campervan they’ve started doing a lot more travelling together, including walking the amazing Camino de Santiago in Spain as well as the little less exotic Thames path in London. With that in mind, this year I wanted her present to be practical  though that was still in-keeping with her love of fashion, style and her family.

Browsing John Lewis’s Mother’s Day ‘Adventure Pro’ gifts I chose the Rhea Leather Mini Backpak in Red (modeled perfectly by Elfie) which is just the right size to throw all her essentials in when exploring new places, but stylish enough to not look out of place if they rock up to a fancy country eatery. I also picked up this cute Backpacker card game, perhaps more with Elfie in mind than mum: they love to play board and card games together, and I know Elf will adore learning about different countries while getting the chance to be competitive (she’s definitely her mother’s daughter).

What are you hoping to give or receive on Mother’s day this year?

Thank you to John Lewis, a shop we know and love, for working with MTT.