A Tech Moms Guide to Shopping for Mother's Day

I’m a self proclaimed tech geek so typical mother’s day gifts, while thoughtful and sweet, don’t really get me in the mood to make pancakes and bacon every morning or clean the grime off your favorite shirt. I would trade-in a bouquet of flowers, dinner, or even fancy jewelry for new camera equipment, a cool gadget for my iPhone, a flat screen television for the office, an editing software or even a new little mini laptop. I’m a gadget junkie and I know I’m not the only mom gripping on to her iPhone as her son makes the next basketball play (that is what’s it’s called right?).

This is supposed to be a Mother’s Day gift guide, but how do you write a gift guide on a site for and about Mother’s? So instead I thought I would show you some great gifts and ways to drop subtle hints to the gift buyers in your life.

E-Book Reader
If you are a book reader then this is one item that should be on the top of the list. Whether it’s the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony, or the Apple iPad this is a must have item. I love being able to read all of the latest releases on one handy gadget, which is about the size of a moleskin notebook. My bag is no longer bogged down by books, e-books, and magazines.

Drop the Hint:
So how do you “hint” that you absolutely need an e-book reader? You could plan a mini vacation or staycation and load a bunch of books and magazines in your gift givers suitcase or bag, or you can slip them in the diaper bag and make the gift giver carry it all day. When he/she complains about how heavy your stuff is mention how much lighter it would be if you had an e-reader.

iPhone
I honestly don’t know how any self proclaimed tech mama can live without one of these. But if you haven’t taken the plunge there are a zillion and one ways you can express how important and useful an iPhone can be.

Drop the Hint:
Bring the kids and the gift giver along when you run errands (best to try around nap time) and leave the kids toys at home. When they get bored or get fussy, just mention how they could watch movies or play educational games on the iPhone if you had one. Or when you are at the grocery store, forget to buy the gift givers favorite soda and mention you could have put the grocery list on your iPhone if you had one.

DSLR Camera
My camera is one of my most prized possessions. I love taking pictures of the kids, and when you have a good camera in your hand it’s hard to take bad pictures. I’m partial to Canon but there are so many choices from Nikon, Pentax, and Sony to Canon and more.

Drop the Hint:
If your gift giver happens to play sports offer to take some shots while he’s making a dunk or scoring a goal with your camera phone. With my older camera I kept missing the “moment” and it was so frustrating. Hopefully your gift giver will see the importance of capturing those special moments.

Keep in mind not everyone responds to subtle hints, for those people repetition seems to work best. Send them links on Facebook, text them your wishlist or create a wishlist online and drop it in their inbox.

Just in case one of my gift readers is actually reading this, here’s my list: tripod, macro lens, laptop, new shoes or just a gift card to B&H Photo Video or Adoroma.

Good luck and I hope you get what you wished for.