Top 5 Mother's Day Gift Ideas for the New Mother

There is little that can bring as much joy - and exhaustion - as a first-born child. For the first time in a young mother's life, she is the one to be honored this Mother's Day. The following are five great gift ideas for how husbands or parents can treat the new mom.

Relaxation
The stress of having a new baby, altering sleeping patterns, and rearranging her life for her new bundle of joy most likely has a new mother feeling frazzled. More than ever, she needs a nice, refreshing way to recharge her batteries. After being rejuvenated at a local spa, she'll be much more relaxed when she returns home to her baby.

Local spas and salons offer the perfect day-long getaway for mothers. Many offer personalized packages, so you can get her exactly what she wants, from massages, manicures and pedicures, hair styling, and facials.

A night out
Constantly staying home with a new baby, while very rewarding, can also be a bit confining. A night out is the perfect gift for mothers who are ready to take a short time off from watching her new baby.

Hire a reputable sitter or relative to watch the baby for at least three hours. Treat mom to an evening filled with activities she loves: fancy dinner and dancing, a play or musical followed by coffee, a concert, or a friend's house, for example. For low-key moms who don't mind staying at home, it's still nice to have a relaxing, adult evening. Send the baby to a sitter's house, then rent movies and make popcorn or other delicious treats.

Memory supplies
The newness of having one's first child is exciting, and at the rate children grow up, remembering the first few years is very important.

Treat the new mom in your life to a gift bag full of scrapbooking supplies to keep track of her baby's first year or two. Any local craft store should have enough supplies for the gift. A nice scrapbook with refillable pages is important, as are decorative papers, stickers, letters, stamps, and other items to stick to pages. A nice addition to this gift would be a gift card to a store that does photo developing.

Role reversal
Husbands, this gift is especially meant to be from you. If you work all day and your wife stays home to take care of the new baby, a great gift would be a duties swap-you watch baby while she does as she pleases.

Tell your wife she has the morning and afternoon to do whatever she would like, because you're staying home with the baby. She can go shopping, spend time with friends, go out to lunch, or just sit and read a book. While she's gone, do any needed housework so she returns to a clean home. Another great addition to this gift would be to have a home-cooked meal ready when she gets home in the afternoon, complete with all her favorite foods.

Her first Mother's Day card
It may seem like a no- brainer , but this is the only chance she'll ever get to receive a brand-new-mom Mother's Day card.

This card will be one she'll keep for a long time. For an extra special touch, sign baby's name too. The card can be accompanied by a range of gifts--flowers, chocolates, spa products, or any of the above gift ideas.