Best gift cards for Mother's Day that she picks herself

If your mam has said "ah, you needn't get me anything" three years running, take that as a polite request to let her choose. The Mum Choice Gift Card is made for exactly this. It has Mum right there in the name, which helps when it's handed over at the table with the whole family watching, and it runs from €10 to €500, so it works for a card from you alone or a bigger one from all of you together.

The All-in-1 Choice Gift Card is the wider option. She can spread the amount instead of spending it in one go: new shoes for the spring, a few plants for the garden, lunch out with her sister. It suits the mother who'd rather have three small treats than one big one.

Both are proper presents rather than a fallback. Gift cards only get a bad name when they're bought in a rush on the way over, and that's a timing problem, not a gift problem.

Start with what she enjoys, not with what mothers are supposed to enjoy. One mam wants fresh flowers on the kitchen table, another wants an hour where nobody asks her where anything is.

For the one who always has something in a vase, a Bloom & Wild Gift Card lets her pick the bouquet herself. Tulips if she likes tulips, and not the carnations you panicked into. The Rituals Gift Card suits the mother with a favourite hand cream, body wash or candle that she only replaces once the bottle is properly empty.

Then there's time, which is harder to buy than any object. With a Treatwell Gift Card she books a massage, a haircut or a manicure whenever it suits her, which is the part that never quite happens when someone else arranges it. It's the kind of present that still gets a mention in June. An afternoon off lands better than you'd think.

When you know her well enough to narrow it down, these three directions are worth a look.

The house. For the mam who rearranges the sitting room every spring, a Homesense Gift Card goes on the cushions, the lamp or the new set of mugs she's had her eye on. An M&S Gift Card covers the more practical side of the same thing: good bed linen, a cosy dressing gown, a few nice bits for the Sunday dinner.

The bookshelf. A National Book Tokens Gift Card is a lovely gift for a mother who reads every night and never buys herself a new hardback. She picks the novel, the cookbook or the gardening guide, and the next few Sunday afternoons are sorted.

The wardrobe. The Mango Gift Card works when you know where she shops but not what size she's buying this year, which is most of the time.

Between them, these are presents that get used rather than put on a shelf, even for the mam who insists she doesn't need a thing.

The first one is different. Half of what arrives in those early months is for the baby with her name on the tag, and she notices.

So make this one hers. A treatment she can book while someone else does the feed, a night out that has nothing to do with bottles or buggies, or an amount she can spend on herself without doing the sums first.

That's really the whole brief for a first Mother's Day: treat her as a person and not only as a parent. It sounds obvious, until you count the tiny babygros in the gift bag.

These are the people you know a bit less well, where getting it wrong feels more awkward than it should.

A night away with HotelCheque is generous without being too personal, which is just the right note for a mother-in-law. She picks the hotel and the weekend, and your other half gets some of the credit as well.

Flowers work for the same reason, and so does a card for the shops she already goes to. Presents for a nana rarely need to be clever, they need to be used, and your granny doesn't want a gadget she has to ring you about. A godmother fits the same pattern: pick something she can spend where she likes and put the thought into the message.

Left it to the Saturday before? You're not the first. A digital card goes out by email within minutes with your message on it, and at checkout you choose whether it comes to you or goes straight to her. If you'd rather have something to hand over with the tea and toast, the All-in-1 Choice Gift Card also comes as a physical card in a gift box with your message. Leave a bit of time for the post with that one.

Still deciding? Have a look at our gift cards for women and work back from what she'd pick herself. She'll be delighted, and you'll have one less thing on the list!