Average spend for Mother’s Day is now £30

Not so long ago Mother’s Day was a time when you would buy a card for your mother and perhaps a small bouquet of flowers, or maybe some chocolates, but seldom both. Homemade gifts were more than acceptable. Things are a little different now and the average amount spent on the person who brought you into this world is £30, but if you paid much attention to the advertisements you will soon see in our stores and on our screens you could be forgiven for thinking that the average spend is much more.

Mother’s Day in the UK this year is on Sunday, March 30th. In the preceding weeks, starting no doubt as soon as Valentine’s Day is out of the way, we can expect to see adverts suggesting we spoil our mothers with iPads, weekends at a spa hotel, jewellery, leather bags and cases, possibly even a small car. Why not? It’s Mother’s Day! And, miserably, it is rapidly becoming as challenging a time for those of us without six figure salaries as Christmas can be with every luxury goods store determined to make us feel guilty if we don’t spend a great deal more than we can afford.

Present ideas

However, realistically few of us do buy iPads, luxury holidays or expensive jewellery and, thank goodness, few mothers expect us to. A small gift and a nice card is usually just right. Mercifully, many newspapers and magazines suggest ideas for presents that will suit all kinds of budgets in the run up to the day itself. Stores like Laura Ashley usually have a great range of gifts for £30 and under which may be just right. Or you could really go the extra mile and make something home made. You’ll find some excellent ideas on the Wiki How to do anything website.

Fathers miss out

The most frequently bought presents for mums are flowers, chocolates, beauty treatments and alcohol. Spare a thought for the nation’s dads though. Those who are lucky enough to get a present usually have around £10 spent on them, a third of the average spend for mums. The most popular gifts are beer, wine and DVDs but almost half of all fathers only get a card. Perhaps our dads miss out because we don’t appreciate them as much or perhaps it is just because the commercialism of Father’s Day is a decade or so behind Mother’s Day, and so we feel less pressure to buy more lavish gifts.

Give her your time

If you are really stuck for gift ideas for Mother ‘s Day, how about foregoing a shop bought gift altogether and giving something home baked? A cake perhaps? Because Mother’s Day really isn’t about the gift. It’s about letting your mother know that you love her, that you appreciate her.

Inevitably, most adult children see their mothers less frequently than their mothers would wish. If you can’t be with her on Mother’s Day, send her a handwritten letter and tell her how much you love her. If you can be with her, make sure you are. That may well be all she wants.

Image credits: FreeDigitalPhotos.netDavid Castillo Dominici