Mother's Day 2021: Unconventional Gift Ideas

The time has come for Mother’s Day 2021. A post was necessary. Now, I want to put your attention away from the conventional or else very common gifts one usually gets for his or her mother, and I can assure you that this is not any other post on gift ideas, its different! So I thought of asking a few mothers what could be the ideal situation they could hope or wish for. And they responded that a day when they would not have to serve their husbands and look after their kids. They wished to get a day’s break for a pampering and relaxing session, or else a get-together with their girl friends and have fun. This led me to come up with five unconventional ideas which I centered on the following four factors;

1. Fun
2. Self-Pampering
3. Mental Relaxation, and
4. Ease

Want to know what those gift ideas are? Then stick around! ☺

Merino Wool Blanket DIY

This is a fun and productive call to all the knitting-loving mums, and even girls as a get-together activity. It is a very easy DIY Merino wool blanket that you can make at home with chunky merino wool yarn. You only need two hands for this. Buy a super chunky merino wool yarn for your mother if she once enjoyed knitting, and then gave up due to the monotony of life.

The super-chunky merino wool yarn comes in soft neutrals and pastel colors, which you can match with her bedding and room interior. It is a super soft fabric ideal for knitting a blanket, is durable, and resists pilling.

Merino wool is expensive and buying a commercially available blanket would be even more. So you can buy the yarn for 100 USD and make a DIY blanket, rather than buying one from the market for 400 USD on average. To know how much you need to make a blanket, the rule is to multiply the required length of the blanket times the width in inches, divided by 380. Just write DIY chunky knit merino blanket on Youtube and you would see the easiest ever short videos and fun at the same time.

Merino Wool Big Chunky Yarn

Foot Peel Package

If you know your mother has hardened skin and calluses on her feet, then you would want to get her a foot peel package or a foot peel mask. It is a very good gift idea that you can get for very cheap. And at the same time, your mum will be pleased. The foot peel package is essentially a chemical exfoliator, and different from pedicure and foot creams. It costs up to 25 USD.

Calluses are the hard, thickened skin that forms across the ball of the feet, on the heel, and on the outer edge of the big toe. Let me assure you that this is not a problem at all. It occurs naturally where the bone joints of the feet get the most pressure and friction from repeated physical activity.

Foot peels have a time lag just like other chemical facial exfoliants. It could take one to two weeks to shed the hardened skin to reveal smooth and soft feet. A word of caution, if your mother is diabetic or pregnant, you might want to avoid it. Also, do not use it on wounds. Delay treating until they heal. Use only where treatment is required. Also, after a week or two of using it, when you notice the feet getting better, stop using it to avoid excess callus removal. If you over-peel, the chemicals go too deep in your skin, resulting in sensitivity and infection. This could trigger more skin build-up and thicker calluses as a natural defense.

Foot Peel Mask

Anti-Stress Adult Coloring Books

If you know your mother experiences anxiety or other mental health symptoms, you might want to get her adult coloring books for mental relaxation. This is another enjoyable activity for mothers and seniors to get involved in.

Coloring books for adults come in different types of designs to choose from such as geometric, nature, floral, animal, pattern, mixed styles, and Zen doodle. You can also choose according to thematic topics i.e. animal species, oceans, seasonal, special occasions, and travel. And the best coloring medium you would need to buy for these large books is marker pens and gel pens. Alcohol marker pens are expensive but give the best impact. Otherwise, you could also get water-based markers. Gel pens might be required for fine detailing as they have thin nibs.

Coloring has the psychological ability to relax the fear processing component of the brain known as the ‘Amygdala’. Coloring books for seniors forge neural pathways the same way meditation does to allow the mind to rest. This happens because these unique books have complex and intricate designs and patterns. When you start focusing on the intricate pattern and color, you discipline your mind. This focus coupled with repetition helps your mind to release stress. Your focus gets controlled by these patterns and you forget about your worries. According to a limited amount of research done on the subject, it also helps to improve cognitive brain functions such as memory loss and dementia. However, in the case of Alzheimer’s, it is suggested to opt for art therapy. The varied states of the mind would not do away with the stress-free books but require continuous art therapy for treatment.

Please do not worry at all about your seniors not comprehending these complex designs; this is what it is all about! The concentration ability of adults is significantly higher than children. They need to do complex tasks to feel accomplished and fulfilled after completing them. And these patterns are so beautiful that once seniors get done with them, they would admire the exquisite art they made and would want to do more. Also, coloring only pulls up a limited amount of attention to take your mind away from introspection, exactly like gardening.

Anti-Stress Art Therapy        

A major shout-out to all the single fathers and widowers performing the role of a mother to their children! 

Why not look at it from a different perspective? For them, I came up with a couple of ideas that could ease and speed up their house chores. And by house chores, I chose kitchen duties as the most important. Why not make dishes and cooking easy for them! So other than the handy vegetable slicer dicer machine and a kitchen mixer, I recommend the “TOP TWO SOLUTIONS” to ease kitchen chores for single fathers who already have a lot on their plates to take care of. ☺

Kitchen Dishwasher

The first solution is a Kitchen Dishwasher. Dishwashers come in standardized sizes and shapes. Depending on your kitchen requirements, you can choose from the integrated, free-standing, countertop, to the most popular built-in dishwasher. A dishwasher cleans through mechanical action by distributing detergent solution and water on dishes and utensils.

You would be glad to know that the kitchen dishwasher is also energy efficient. It uses around 11-13 litres of water per washing cycle. Whereas manual dishwashing wastes around nine times the same amount of water.

Vegetables and Lentils Tinned Foods

The second solution is fresh vegetables and lentils canned and tinned. Those who do regular cooking can relate to this. They know that this is the easiest and "the express way” to do any and every sort of cooking. Buy tinned food for your father and store it in the pantry or in a cool dry place. It would speed up cooking for your father and you would see that he would be pleased.

That’s all for the day! If you found the post helpful, share it with your social media friends. Please follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Hit the Followers button on my Blog and also subscribe to my email list to get updates on informative posts and tips. The next post is again on skincare since it was already planned before this one. But do let me know in the comments section below what you would like to see in the upcoming posts. I will see you all very soon. Stay safe. Bye.

Please Note: The three products' links under the gift ideas given above are “References Only” for you to get an idea of how the items look like. “I am not promoting any brand’s products in this post!" By all means, you may skip them for your preferred stores and brands, and shop for whatever you like!

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