Best Gift Ideas for Black Moms

​How about a Black-Women-Owned bookstore gift card?

​If your mom is a bookworm, then a gift card to her local Black-women-owned bookstore like Afriware Books, Co is the perfect way to help her find books from the next generation of amazing Black women writers. You'll want to make sure that you’re supporting an independent bookstore, as opposed to a big retail chain.

These types of stores are owned and operated by members of the community in which they are situated—and not only do these stores need our support right now more than ever, but gifting your mom a gift card allows her to explore with purpose and intentionality.

Pairing that gift card with other great gifts for Mom will show her just how much you care!

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​Start with a good book.

Brighten her morning with a good book. And we mean really good—the kind you can't put down and wish went on for another thousand pages. The kind that makes you laugh and cry, or just makes you think differently about the world than you did before. The best books can be an escape, a temporary reprieve from the mundane (or not so mundane) realities of life.

Offer your time and attention

A gift even better than a great book is someone to talk about it with! Make mom breakfast in bed, ask her how she's doing, bring over some TLC (tender loving coffee). Don't forget to invite her to share how she thinks the protagonist could've made different choices.

Reading is one of the best ways to relax, and a good book can make a Black mom’s week. Make sure to pick something that aligns with her interests and reading level. For example, if she is into science fiction or young adult novels, you may want to stick with those genres. Or if she loves historical fiction but isn’t much of a reader, it might be better to choose something easier. In general though, most moms love stories about strong women overcoming obstacles so that they can relate their own experiences better than if they were reading male-dominated books all the time (this is true for any genre).

Here are some recommendations:

• Finding Me:  A Memoir by Viola Davis
  
• The Black Family Reunion Cookbook: Black Family Reunion Cookbook by National Council of Negro Women
  
• Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker, 1965-2000

​Black women deserve relaxation and self-care!  Here are some suggestions:

Listen to music

Take a bath

Spend time with friends

Exercise

Read

Travel

Meditate

Get a massage

Do yoga

Journal

Redefine the meaning of self-care and stress relief. No matter what form of self-care you choose, the ultimate goal is to reduce your stress and improve your health. Self-care doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. By simply taking some time out of your day to do something you enjoy, you can greatly reduce your level of stress. Many women get stressed because they try to do too much all by themselves, but it's okay to ask for help when needed!

​Add a good scent.

Whether it’s scented candles, oils, bath salts, soaps, lotions, essential oils, body sprays or incense—or even perfume or cologne—smell is an important sense that can quickly and easily be elevated or sullied by what’s around. You want to make sure your mother feels at home when she returns from a long day at work; you also want to make sure the house smells warm and welcoming if she has guests over. Depending on her style and preferences, you should definitely consider getting her something specifically tailored to her taste in terms of aroma.

Fresh fruit juice.

There's no better way to pamper a mom in your life than with a fresh fruit juice, made right before her very eyes, delivered by you. With so many great options online, it's not difficult to find the right juice for your kid to make.

For extra credit: Take it one step further and set up a breakfast date with her. Don't forget the mimosas!
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​But not without some chocolate.

​But not without some chocolate.

You want to get something for your mom and not a lot of people like flowers, but you do need to make sure there’s some chocolate in there. If she’s a chocoholic, it might be a good idea to add more than one.

Whether she likes milk or dark is important (you should know this), but if you don’t, we recommend dark chocolate because it has more antioxidants and is always the better choice—plus it has less sugar. Chocolate just makes everything better though—try getting a variety of flavors: raspberries with white chocolate, mint with milk chocolate, salted caramel with dark… The possibilities are endless!

Have the coffee, tea or hot chocolate ready to go.

It might as well be decked out...

​​Have the coffee, tea or hot chocolate ready to go.

Include a coffee mug, tea mug, or hot chocolate mug. You can also include a gift card from a Black owned coffee ship. If you want to make this even sweeter, surprise your mom with an Afriware Books  Mother’s Day Card for $10 in credit that she can use at participating stores until July 31st.

Consider putting together an entire basket of goodies that includes gourmet coffee, various flavors of tea and sweet treats!

If you know your mom is a coffee or tea drinker, it might as well be decked out with the best items for the job. A good mug or tea cup: check. A good coffee or tea press: check. A good coffee or tea pot: check. And don't forget about the thermos!

​Nothing screams "cozy" like a blanket and pillow combo. If your mother is anything like us, she'll probably use it when lounging around at home, but also when co-working in her office—or even if she ends up camping in the wilderness (hello, summer!).

Another great option? Books and candles can go hand in hand to add that extra relaxation factor to any reading session (which is perfect if your mom is an avid reader). You can even opt for other mood boosters that are known for their therapeutic effects like essential oils and diffusers. But whatever you do, make sure to have an epic playlist ready so you can really set the ambiance before going into relaxation mode together.

​A little relaxing music can't hurt.

Music is a pretty good present for moms in general. It has the ability to help people relax, focus, and escape from what's around them. But some music is better than others at achieving these purposes. A study was cited by Time that found that "listening to music reduced stress-induced anxiety levels for both healthy individuals and those who were experiencing discomfort during dental treatment."

In the book, "Secret Life of Plants," even plants react with higher growth rates based on "listening" or being exposed to different types of music. They found that plants exposed to Mozart grew up to 20 % higher or with a wider girth than plants exposed to other types of music."

Want More info?

​As always, I appreciate that you have read through this blog post.  I hope that you’ve become curious to find out more about some of the books and gifts that Black moms may wish for on Mother's Day, or her birthday for example.  We ask that you consider purchasing your books from our Black owned business, Afriware Books, Co.  If there is a title you’d like to purchase that is not mentioned here, or could not be found on the website, feel free to email us at:  afriwarebooks@afriwarebooks.com