Every year my mother and I have the same conversation around Thanksgiving. Our annual ritual goes a little something like this:
Me: So, what do you want for Christmas?
Mom: I don’t know…(pause)
Mom: An Amazon gift card?
Me: Are you sure? That’s what I gave you last year.
Mom: That’s true. I don’t know, I can’t think of anything else.
Me: Amazon gift card it is.
This year’s discussion started off the same as the previous years. I asked my mom what she wanted, and she said she didn’t know. Then she mentioned the old standby, the Amazon gift card.
The thought of purchasing another impersonal piece of plastic struck a nerve this time. I mean, what kind of print geek gives her mother something so…thoughtless? Don’t get me wrong, gift cards certainly have their place in this world. They’re ideal presents for office acquaintances or picky teenagers. I think we can all agree, though, that mothers deserve better.
What Moms Really Want
If your mom is anything like mine, she loves being able to brag about you. Nothing makes her happier than being able to say, “My daughter did that” to her friends.
You see, gift cards rob your mother of the opportunity to talk about how talented you are, how proud she is of you, to everyone she knows. Sure, she can talk about the gift card and what she bought with it. But she can’t say that what she got is truly one of a kind, that it was made especially for her.
Remember the construction paper Christmas cards you brought home in elementary school? They looked as though you cut them with a weed whacker, yet they’re still sitting in your mom’s garage. She held onto them because you created them, just for her. And they mean more to her than anything you could ever buy at the mall.
So when you tuck a gift card under the tree, you’re not giving her a chance to feel special.
You’re not reminding her that you care enough to create, to give a piece of yourself.
I made the mistake of believing my mom when she said she wanted a gift card for at least a decade, but now I know better. That’s why I suggested a canvas photo print this year instead.
A Printed Present to Treasure Forever
My mom and I are opposites in that I’m a digital devotee and she just got an email address a few months ago. She loves her iPad, and we’re finally able to communicate electronically as a result. I send her links to my articles and share my photography with her. She’s been very supportive of my photo passion, which made a custom canvas the perfect gift. I let her pick her favorite photo of the year; she chose a mixed media piece seen above for a pop art print.
This image started out as a photo taken at the Santa Monica pier on the last day of summer 2013. My friends and I went to the beach to bid the summer sun farewell. After I took the picture, I found out that my design hero, artist John Van Hammersveld, made the Endless Summer movie poster with a photo. I decided to try the technique myself, and my mom got a piece of unique wall art out of the experiment.
I’m not sure what you’ve got in store for your mom this Christmas; I just hope it’s as meaningful as an artist’s canvas. So does she…
Katherine serves as the Online Marketing Director at PrintFirm.com. She fell into online marketing in 2010, and built her career around this dynamic field. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from California State University, Northridge (Summa). When she’s not writing, Katherine enjoys photography, skateboarding, graphic design, and chasing her dog around with her husband.
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