“For me, being a mother made me a better professional because coming home every night to my girls reminded me what I was working for. And being a professional made me a better mother because by pursuing my dreams, I was modeling for my girls how to pursue their dreams.”
—Michelle Obama, lawyer, author, and former First Lady of the United States
Finding the right gifts for working moms is easy if you know the mom in question. There’s no doubt that we do a lot as working moms. From running a household to making boardroom presentations and meeting deadlines, it can sometimes feel as if you don’t have enough in you to do it all. Yet, we do!
It’s kind of our superpower!
But, as a working mom myself, I know it can get overwhelming. I know that you can feel like it’s all just too much at times. That’s why I focus on staying organized and automating as much of my schedule as possible. People who know me know that finding me the best gift that aligns with that goal is always welcome.
However, not all moms are like me. Some moms, like almost all of us from time to time, don’t want gifts that are all about making their lives easier; some moms prefer indulgence; others like small, thoughtful presents; and some just want you to take over their household chores and responsibilities for a day while they go to the spa. We are all different.
That’s why I started by saying that getting gifts for working moms is easy if you know the mom in question.
What if you don’t? What if it’s someone you just met at the office, you guys hit it off, and one of their big days (say, a birthday) is coming up? What gifts can you get them?
Also See: A Mom’s Guide To Self Care
Gifts for Working Moms
What I have here is a list of possible gifts for working moms that you can use to get ideas. Most, if not all, of these gifts have been picked and approved by fellow working moms who find value in them. Now, it’s all a matter of picking something you think will go well with the mom in question.
With that in mind, here are some gifts I know we would all appreciate.
Amazon Prime
The fact that it’s not a physical gift might sound weird to some, but think about it: some of the best gifts don’t come in boxes or wrappers, like a spa date or a vacation. Gifting a working mom with a year’s worth of Amazon Prime subscriptions is one of the most thoughtful things you could do for them.
Most of these awesome multitasking supermoms have a lot going on. Finding a way to make their lives just a little bit better and more streamlined means you are actually finding a way to lighten the load and give them some of that time to spend on themselves.
With an Amazon Prime subscription, you are making something much easier for the busy mom in your life to do:
- Grocery shopping
- Whole Foods deals
- Free 2-day shipping
Best of all, it comes with unlimited music, reading, TV, and movie streaming. Imagine that! Not only are you making her life easier by giving her a way to do her grocery shopping when she’s on the move, but you are also giving her an abundance of relaxation options for her downtime with movies, books, and music streaming.
If you ask me, this is by far one of the most thoughtful gifts you can get me. It doesn’t matter whether or not I already have a subscription; you can just offer to pay for the next year, which saves me money!
A Spa Day
Now, I know this might seem a bit odd, considering the fact that we are talking about super busy moms here. But I know from experience that even super-busy moms need a day off. The problem is we hardly ever find the time for that; we are just constantly on overdrive.
If you listen more closely, you will hear how much a busy working mom needs a break. They’ll probably mention some spa that they have always wanted to go to and finish it off by saying, “One of these days” or “Maybe sometime soon.”
That would be your cue! Make “sometime soon” come a lot faster!
Getting her a spa day, preferably with all the available treatments and therapies as options, would be perfect. The trick, however, is to make it a joint spa day for you and her.
This ensures that she goes. For most working moms, paying for the spa day won’t be the problem; finding the time to go and partake in this great gift will be the problem.
If you guys are going together, it will force, or at least guide, her hand towards actually setting a day aside for the experience as opposed to filling it up with chores and other responsibilities.
Make it a girl’s day out. You can even bring a few of your other friends to show how much you appreciate and value her.
A Neck Massager
When was the last time you asked your significant other for a back rub without it leading to other activities? Exactly! Sometimes, all you want is a back rub, but the risk is always real.
A good workaround would be to use a neck massager. These little things are magical. Not only are they easy to use, but they can relieve tension from almost your entire body. From muscle soreness, neck stiffness, and even latent irritability, which often comes with fatigue.
I have one, and let me tell you, it has made my life a whole lot easier. Anytime I feel any of that tension coming on, I just whip it out and use the 8 powerful deep-kneading nodes to get rid of it.
Of course, I still ask for that back rub from time to time.
A Hair Dryer
Now, I know, I know—we all already have hair dryers. But do you have the Revlon One Step Volumizer PLUS 2.0 Hair Dryer and Hot Air Brush? This is one of the most wished-for items on Amazon and was voted the best blow-dry brush.
This isn’t just another hair dryer; it’s a two-in-one tool that dries and styles your hair in half the time you would typically spend doing that with a regular brush. Not only is it a useful item, but it’s also a time saver, which is something every busy mom would appreciate.
An Automatic Vacuum Cleaner
This is yet another gift that goes towards taking some of the load off a busy mama. You and I know that just because you have a 9-5 or are busy running your own business, it has nothing to do with the house needing to be vacuumed.
Yes, you can always hire professional cleaners, but that can be quite expensive. Oh, wait, I just thought of something else. Pay for a house cleaner for a week or a month!
However, if you feel like that would be overreaching and not sure she would want a stranger to come in and clean the home, you can simply buy that working mom an automatic vacuum cleaner like this iRobot Roomba Vacuum. This will make her life so much easier.
Mom can actually put her feet up as the house gets vacuumed, and she doesn’t have to lift a finger. Maybe she could even listen to music or read a book while she’s at it—you know, thanks to that Amazon Prime gift someone else got her!
A Self-Heating Coffee Mug
While travel mugs are awesome for when you are on the go, there are few things quite as good as a self-heating coffee mug when you spend most of your time at the desk. This Nextmug: Temperature-Controlled, Self-Heating Coffee Mug can be a wonderful gift for any busy corporate mom.
Not only is it easy to use, but it also keeps the coffee at an optimum temperature, so you can have a “pick me up” sip at any given time, and it will be at just the right temperature. No more repeated trips to the microwave to heat your morning coffee.
The Home Planner
Let’s face it, no one, and I mean absolutely no one in the house, can find anything without mom’s help, even if it were staring them right in the face. Helping your loved ones find things that they have misplaced has to be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming tasks on any working mom’s to-do list.
You can make this a thing of the past (or, at the very least, drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to find them) for your working mom friends by getting her this Home Planner.
It’s a simple command center that can answer the two most important questions on any busy mom’s day:
- Where is…?
- What is…?
With this command center gift idea, the busy mom can leave instructions, directions, and even car keys in one convenient location. All you have to do is come up with the most common questions asked by your loved one, post the answers on the command center, and let everyone find their way around using it as a map.
It saves you a great deal of grief and time for Mom. Of course, there are other practical gifts like a day planner, an Apple Watch, or simply offering to watch the kids so your working mom friend can have some time alone or with their partner.
Whichever way you look at it, the perfect gift for a working mother is designed to make her life easier or even more organized. Any of the gifts on this list do exactly that and more.