THANKFULLY, MAMS REALLY aren’t too hard to shop for.

Every Christmas, birthday and Mother’s Day, they’re delighted with the same skincare products and perfume that they’ve been getting year in and year out. Of course it’s handy to have your essentials gifted to you every year, but it doesn’t always make for a memorable occasion. Material goods are fun and all that, but good memories are nicer and last a lot longer. We’ve rounded up some ideas to save you the hard work – coming up with plans. 

1. A massage

Shutterstock / MakeStory Studio Shutterstock / MakeStory Studio / MakeStory Studio

Now this is obviously only a fun idea if your mam has never been for a massage, or only had them on very rare occasions. If you’ve got a mam who’s going out and getting massages every fortnight, keep scrolling. If not, hang in there. Women of our mam’s generation don’t exactly love spending money on themselves – they’d rather look after kids, grandkids, and basically everybody else around them, before themselves. A lot of them think a massage is the height of notions too, and would never consider booking one for themselves. It’s a nice way to relax, and a spa day can be very fun too. It also gives your mam something to go on about for weeks to her friends, co-workers, relatives, neighbours, and anybody else who will listen – which is a gift that money cannot buy.

As we all know, there’s no shortage of hotels in Ireland, so there are plenty of options there. There are also plenty of deals on Pigsback’s Pamper section for spa days in places you may never have even considered.  

2. Bring her somewhere weird that she’d never consider going of her own accord

Brian Lawless Brian Lawless

We all know how much mams love to go on about things. It’s one of the nicest things in the world to find out that you did something for your mam or got her something that she was so pleased with that she informed half of the nation about. Without making the entire day about yourself (e.g. choosing a restaurant you love, when you know the items on the menu wouldn’t necessarily appeal to her), bring her somewhere out of her comfort zone (without terrifying her) and you’ll have a pretty memorable day with her. Think something along the lines of Tayto Park or an engaging museum. 

3. Afternoon tea

Shutterstock / Ingus Kruklitis Shutterstock / Ingus Kruklitis / Ingus Kruklitis

Might be an obvious choice here, but with good reason. We all love drinking tea and horsing tiny scones and sandwiches. There are dozens of spots to get afternoon tea in all of Ireland’s major cities, and even some novelty offerings in the world of afternoon tea – like the Vintage Tea Tour that drives all over Dublin, from Christchurch and the Guinness Brewery to the Custom House and the Phoenix Park. 

4. Get teeny tiny matching tattoos 

Now, obviously this isn’t going to be every mam’s cup of tea. But maybe your mam would be up for it, and the topic never came up. Ask her if she’s interested and then decide on a design – obviously you don’t need to get matching back-pieces. There are plenty of places to get nice tattoos in Dublin and across the country (as we listed here last month), and there are plenty of tattoo shops that are also happy to do small tattoos (if you’re worried that your idea is too small) like The Ink Factory, Heartbreak Social Club and the growing number of shops specialising in stick and poke tattoos. 

5. Or get her some time away with your dad/other mam/whoever she likes to spend time with (which may even be you). 

Shutterstock / Eviled Shutterstock / Eviled / Eviled

Nobody’s going to say no to that. If you don’t know where to start, there are plenty of deals on Groupon/Pigsback, all those kinds of websites that’ll include everything she needs, like dinner, breakfast and prosecco etc. If she drives, there are plenty more options in places like Wicklow or Carlingford, where there’s no shortage of nice things to do and lovely places to visit for a stroll. If she doesn’t drive, there are also plenty of options within a walk or taxi trip of a train or bus station. 

6. Go to the cinema (or the theatre – if you think she’d enjoy that). 

Shutterstock / Who is Danny Shutterstock / Who is Danny / Who is Danny

When’s the last time you went to the pictures with your mam? Probably when you were a little kid. Relive one of those nice days out from your childhood, but with you as the paying adult, and your mam being showered in attention and gifts.

If you fancy making a trip into Dublin, The Country Girls is currently on in The Abbey until the 4th of May (although, having seen this with somebody who had not read the book, while I had, I would not recommend bringing her if she hadn’t been a fan of the books beforehand). If you fancy getting the tickets now but holding out until a later play, Citysong begins on the 25th of May and looks pretty promising. At the end of this month, Beginning by David Eldridge will be on in the Gate Theatre, while The Gaiety is showing a comedy called Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones. 

 7. Join a class with her. 

Shutterstock / Syda Productions Shutterstock / Syda Productions / Syda Productions

This could be absolutely any kind of class. You could learn conversational Irish together, you could start learning how to dance, you could do an exercise class, you could do a life drawing class, you could try pottery, you could try screen printing, cooking, or basically anything else you think she’d be interested in. She’s your mam, not mine. I can’t choose for you. Look up classes in your local community centre, library or college to see what’s on and if there’s anything your mam would enjoy. 

8. Take her to a concert. 

Shutterstock / Konstantin L Shutterstock / Konstantin L / Konstantin L

Or buy tickets for her to go to a concert with somebody else, if you think she’d have more fun with one of her pals. Have a look through Ticketmaster or the listings of local venues for something she’d look forward to and enjoy. It really doesn’t matter, at the end of the day she’s probably happy to go anywhere as long as she can spend a bit of time with you. 

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