When it comes to single moms, the best gifts are acts of service. I know because I spent ten years of my life raising my eldest daughter alone—luckily for me, I had the amazing support from my parents. For Christmas 2015, I have comprised a list of gifts that I know single moms would enjoy. I have not only included service gift ideas, but gifts moms can enjoy with their children, gifts that encourage her, and gifts that will pamper single moms because they work so hard and sacrifice so much.
GIFTS OF SERVICE
Cleaning Service Certificate: if you want to make a single mom—any mom for the matter—weep tears of gratitude and sheer happiness, then purchase a gift certificate from a cleaning service. You can buy a couple hours or a whole day's worth of cleaning. Every single mom needs this gift.
Babysitting Certificate: design your own certificate saying something like this: "This ticket is good for four hours of babysitting on the day of your choice." Be sure to follow through.
Yard-Cleaning Certificate: do you know a single mother who struggles to keep her yard up? Contact a landscaper and get a certificate for snow removal or a lawn mowing—or make your own certificate and offer your own time and brawn.
GIFTS MOM CAN ENJOY WITH HER CHILDREN
Time is precious to a single mom, so when they have it they usually want to spend it with their children.
Dinner Invite: single moms work hard and often feel too tired to cook. Many also feel lonely for some adult companionship, but they don't want to leave their children home. Invite her and her children over for a home-cooked meal or out to a nice restaurant.
Family Gift Basket: choose a gift basket that both mom and her children can enjoy. For example, this Sunday Brunch basket from Cherry Moon Farm is great because now mom knows what she's making for Christmas morning breakfast. $79.99 from CherrymoonFarms.com
VidAngel movie service makes it possible to filter out bad language and indecent content of the latest movies, so mom can enjoy watching something other than cartoons or bad Nickelodeon movies with her children. Each movie costs $1, if returned in 24-hours. To start the service it costs $20, so she'll have 20 movies to watch with her kids provided she returns the movie in the allotted time, otherwise, the movie cost $1 per day. It's a little like Red Box, but it's better because she doesn't have to leave her home to rent or return the movie, and she has numerous editing options. VidAngel offers gift cards.
GIFTS THAT ENCOURAGE
In her memoir, The Kiss of Jesus: How Mother Teresa
and the Saints Helped Me to Discover the Beauty of the Cross Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle reveals her struggles and shows that she understands the heart of the single mother. $15.15 from Amazon.com
Mornings With St. Therese by Patricia Treece is a beautifully bound meditation book with brief meditations from St. Therese of Lisieux, which a busy mom can read every day in just a few minutes. $10.49 Amazon.com
GIFTS THAT PAMPER
Glenstal Abbey Monastic Liqueurs & Dessert Truffles available from Monastery Greetings are hand-crafted in Ireland and divinely delicious—I know because I've tried all eight flavors included in the box of 16. Any women would feel pampered to receive these beautifully boxed chocolates. $24.46 from MonasteryGreetings.com
Spa or Massage Gift Certificate: this gift would give her a new lease on life and help melt away tension and troubles. It's something that most single moms would like, but would never buy for themselves because it's too much of a luxury.
What would you add to this list? Leave me a comment below.
