Mother's Day Gifts for Mums Who Do Not Want Flowers

The Mother's Day aisle assumes one kind of mother: soft colours, a candle, a mug about wine, tulips from the supermarket.

Plenty of mothers are not that. Some of them have more tattoos than their kids, decorate in colours that make visitors blink, and would genuinely rather have a painting of a strawberry graveyard than a bouquet that dies in five days.

For the mum whose house is already loud

Strawberry Graveyard and The Last Dessert are sweet and slightly rotten at the same time, which describes a lot of good mothers. Hand-signed prints are 35 euro, wall art starts at 22 euro.

For the mum who is running on empty

Not Today, The Feelings Are Huge is a black cat who has decided not to feel anything today, surrounded by wine and a box labelled Meltdown Kit. Every mother I have given this to has laughed and then gone quiet for a second.

For the mum who is also an artist

The art guides are between 7,99 and 14,99 euro. If she used to paint before there were children in the house, this is a gentler nudge than "you should get back into it".

Something that arrives all year

The Collector's Club is 7,90 euro a month, or 47,40 euro for six months as a gift. A postcard in the letterbox every month is better than one Sunday of attention.

If she lives far away

A printable download at 9,90 euro crosses any border instantly. Print it yourself, frame it and post the frame if you want it to feel physical.

What to skip

Anything that implies she should relax more, tidy more or take better care of herself. It reads as a task list with a ribbon on it.