Gifts for the ultimate gift giver

If you have a thrill-seeking mother, push her to the next level this mother’s day with an extreme activity. If she’s not quite ready for real skydiving, you can get her a pass to try indoor skydiving, which uses an air tunnel to simulate the freefall experience. Or else head out to a zipline or forest park, or go mountain biking. Any experience that shoots adrenaline through your veins is guaranteed to be unforgettable, and being a daredevil with your mom can only bring you closer.

Chances are that at some time or other you’ve heard your mom talking about something she wishes she could have done—a class she wanted to take, a skill she never had time to learn. So give her a second chance by enrolling her in a course or offering to pay her way through an educational getaway. There are lots of adult education classes through universities, but there are also privately offered courses in beautiful natural settings (like this one), where she can learn everything from painting to soap-making. Whatever your mom’s unfulfilled dreams are, you can help her take the first step to making them happen.

The great thing about Airbnbs is that they’re everywhere (seriously, everywhere.) You can stay in a tent on a Mongolian reindeer farm or in an igloo in the Arctic circle. Whatever your mom’s preferences, you can find an Airbnb to suit them. We suggest finding a rustic but cozy cabin off in the woods somewhere, and spending a weekend relaxing with your mom in a beautiful natural setting.

If your mom likes gardening, then she’ll be thrilled to have some help whipping her flowers and veggies into shape. Offer to spend a day or two helping her to create the ultimate outdoor space. As a bonus, you can buy her some of the fun gardening stuff she never gets herself, like some new starter plants or fancy pots—or, if you’re totally stuck, a gnome.

While outmoded gender roles tend to put dads in charge of the barbecue, the reality is that most moms are amazing grill-masters. So if your mom doesn’t have access to a barbecue, give her the gift of amazing, smoky, fire-roasted meals all year around. If she has space (and you have cash), you could get her the full barbecue, but there are also plenty of less expensive charcoal grills available that still turn plain burgers and veggies into amazing barbecue feasts.

If your mom insists that she doesn’t need anything for mother’s day, then take the money you would have spent and donate it to a worthy cause in her name. Find an organization that helps preserve a lake or forest she loves, or an environmental cause. Or, if your mom loves animals, donate to a local animal shelter. A donation gift will not only help others, it’ll also make your mom feel like she did a great job raising you.

Your mom deserves a day of relaxation, but she also deserves some quality time with you. A spa day combines the two (and, as a bonus, gives you a chance to get a massage yourself). So find the best spa you can, and find a decadent rejuvenation package—for two. She’ll thank you. You’ll thank you. It’s a total win.

Maybe your mom is one of the technologically challenged among us—she has the tools (phone, computer), but doesn’t know how to use them. Not being technology savvy is a huge source of anxiety for people as they get older. So help put your mom at ease by helping her get more comfortable and getting her skills to the next level. Set her up a Facebook page, or get her onto Instagram. Or, if she’s already a social media pro, get her onto Photoshop or help her set up a blog so she can get creative. And most importantly, add her, so that she and you both can share your outdoor adventures online, anytime.

Immortalize your time together, and hire a photographer to get some snaps of you and your mom out someplace beautiful–like the cottage! You could also head to the forest or the beach, and get some shots so that you can both remember that one time you got her the best mother’s day gifts ever.