24 better things than a Mother’s Day card and flowers

Nothing says “I love you mum – but I’ve given your gift approximately 0.3 seconds thought” than rocking up on Mother’s Day with a predictable card and some cellophane-wrapped flowers that scream BP’s finest. While few mums expect anything overly grand, a little thought will definitely be appreciated. The trick is matching your mum with the right gift. With this in mind, these gifts have ease of buying and variety of choice among its top criteria. You’re guaranteed to be the favourite child this year.

Make your garden-loving mum’s life easier with these practical gardening gloves, which allow her to dig, plant and rake without hand tools, simply by using the plastic claws built into the fingers of one glove. Note: also useful for threatening disobedient children, dragon dress-up parties and intense back scratches. $14.95

Show your cheese-loving mum – and that’s pretty much all of them – that you respect her sophisticated palate and connoisseur needs with this stylish cheese board. Made from sustainable bamboo, at 34.5 x 29.5 cm it’s plenty big enough to house a veritable cheese feast, and features a pull-out drawer holding four stainless steel cheese knives, suitable for attacking, er, serving everything from a firm cheddar to a gootastic brie. Mmm, brie… $49

Fact: Your mother’s joy at receiving breakfast in bed is significantly diminished when she spends the next week finding croissant crumbs between the sheets. Avoid this problem and make her feel like she’s living in luxury’s lap with this stylish lap table, which thoughtfully comes with a groove to support a book, tablet or phone (there’s even a hole to allow recharging). Watching cute cat videos all morning while luxuriating over brekkie and a cuppa? M. Day nirvana. $19.95

If your mum’s catchphrase is “I’ll just put the kettle on”, save her the time and electricity with this handy hot water dispenser. Simply fill it with up to 3.5 litres of water and hey presto! Hot water – and endless cuppas – at the press of a button for the entire day. Scotch Finger bickies optional. $99.

It’s time to free up Mum’s dining table, taken hostage by her constant jigsaw-in-progress. Solve her dilemma with this practical, portable wooden jigsaw organiser, featuring pull-out drawers for sorting through the different colours and shapes (found you, pesky last edge bit!). From $119

Your mum might not have a big backyard anymore, but that’s not going to stop her from flexing her green fingers with this mobile urban greenhouse, which allows her to grow flowers, green plants and herbs all year, thanks to the transparent PVC cover. The top shelf also doubles as a great place for potting, without having to bend down. $89

Yes, we know, eyesight diminishes as we get older. So, help mum out would you, with this rather legendary magnifying lamp – which makes reading small print or enjoying an intricate hobby with a choice of warm or cool light. And what? Either use the stand or clamp it to a table or bedhead, and power it up with a USB cable plugged into a computer or desktop. Now you’re just showing off! $39.95

You saw us there, one foot on the bathroom sink, hopping around like a fool. You saw us there, hunched over the edge of the bath, semi-strangled by both our knee and our bosom at the same time. You saw us, o’ Stedi Pedi Foot Surface inventor, and heard our prayers. Our prayers for a board that could simply be slid under any chair to give us the perfect angled surface for a DIY pedicure. You even gave us a light, a pull-out drip tray and (sob!) storage for our nail polish. Children, your mothers need this. They may not even know it exists, but they cannot do without it. $69.

No need to worry about how your mum will lug her groceries up the stairs if you’re not around. She’s sorted with this clever stair-climbing trolley cart, which can be used to carry heavy weights such as parcels or garden supplies, or with the addition of the large thermal bag, the perfect stay-cool shopping trolley. There’s even a handy fold-out seat so mum can take a load off while out and about. $59