My mother has kept every birthday and Mother's Day card that her children have bought for her over the years. It could mean she is a hoarder, but it also shows the value she places in tokens and gifts given to her.

My mother has kept every birthday and Mother's Day card that her children have bought for her over the years. It could mean she is a hoarder, but it also shows the value she places in tokens and gifts given to her.

It has become harder every year to pick a gift that she would like and that would truly convey the message a day such as Mothers Day is supposed to signify. The array of clichéd gifts that are recycled every year by retailers certainly do not help.

There is a limit to the number of coffee mugs, slippers and stuffed animals a woman can receive. Gifts do not have to be expensive or the type that can be put in a box and wrapped in ribbon.

Putting a lot of thought into a gift shows that it was not just bought out of obligation but goes a long way to showing appreciation and consideration.

Mothers spend a lot of time looking after their children and those close to them. Self-indulgence and pampering are justified. Gifts such as perfume, jewellery, beauty treatments and massages will remain firm favourites.

Giving an experience is also desirable. A day out away from the family for a single or new mother might just do the trick. So might allowing that special woman to do something that she has always wanted to, such as horse riding, a hot air balloon ride or swimming classes.

But this does not mean that the shop-bought variety will not be appreciated. Individual touches can be added to gifts. Writing your own message on a card go a long way to making the woman in your life feel that she is one-in-a-million and that you love her.