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Looking for something genealogy related gift ideas for Mother’s Day? Want to blend family history into this most auspicious of family days? Well look no further, here are 5 genealogy gift ideas for this Mother’s Day.
Okay, so let’s start with the most glaringly obvious which I’m not even going to include on the list because it’s a no-brainer: a DNA test.
Ancestry and every other DNA testing site are marketing the sticks out of Mother’s Day and to be fair this is a great gift idea for any consenting mother. The thing to remember about genetic tests that if you are giving it as a gift you might want to pre-position the person before buying it for them.
Not everyone is interested or ready to jump into genealogy in this way so probe and ask questions to gauge how receptive they might be to shipping their genetic material off to a lab to be processed and then never used.
I’ve not put this on my list because I have a bit of a cynical attitude when it comes to just ‘giving away’ our DNA without carefully considering the ramifications of that decision.
However, for the interested mother, it’s one of many great gift ideas for Mother’s Day with all kinds of discounts being offered during this time.
5 Genealogy Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day
1. Printable Family Tree
Reaffirm your mother’s role in the family by printing out a detailed family tree. The extent of the tree is up to you and Ancestry does have a link to a feature that will let you build and print high-quality family trees for display around your home.
This is definitely a nice touch for creating a fun conversational piece for either your home or your mother’s home. I’ve used the previous iteration of Ancestry’s ‘print a family tree’ feature and it worked beautifully; currently however, Ancestry farms this printable family tree feature to a company called Alexander’s which you can still reach through Ancestry’s “Extras” link.
Alexander’s (mycanvas.com) is a partner site to Ancestry and transfers your log-in details from Ancestry when you click on their external link; you will see the dialogue box (pictured above) pop up when you click on the “Photo Books & Posters” link on Ancestry. MyCanvas gives you the option of printing out a range of items like photo books, calendars, posters, etc., all with a decidedly ‘genealogical’ flair to it.
It looks quite nice from what their website has to offer and might make that ideal Mother’s Day gift. Make your mother the centerpiece on her day!
2. Mother’s Day Matriarchal Power
Another great gift idea might be something centered around your family’s MATRIARCH. Whether that person is your mom, a grandmother, great-grandmother, whomever, make that person the center of this Mother’s Day. Pay homage to that special woman who represents the glue that binds your family history, the matriarch-itect of your genealogy.
You can print out a picture using a range of ideas from the “MyCanvas” option above to Costco.com to my #4 option below. You can even print out custom Mother’s Day cards using an online printing company that ships to your door.
The other way to celebrate the power of the matriarch in your family is to find an old photo of your mother and incorporate that as a novel gift idea. Put the matriarch in your family on a pedestal this Mother’s Day and be sure to include some genealogical information along with it.
3. Mother’s Day Maiden Names
For the highly ambitious, the best way to honor a mother for Mother’s Day is to do genealogical research on all of your family’s maiden names. Honor not just one, but ALL of the females in your family!
Running down and researching out maiden names in a family can be quite a challenging task as they present their own set of unique circumstances and research skills; however, the payoff can be quite considerable.
Brick walls abound in doing a genealogical investigation of maiden names back through time as the farther you go back, the more increasingly difficult it becomes to accurately identify a bride’s surname. It is definitely an advanced family history technique and will take some time to accomplish; however, what those names represent on a day like Mother’s Day is very profound.
4. Give A Funky Gift
There’s nothing that screams a Mother’s Day genealogy gift like something funky from a place like Etsy.com. Paring a quirky gift with another of the suggestions on my list might be another cool option for that special mom in your life.
There are literally thousands of options and one of these might be the perfect genealogical gift idea for Mother’s Day. If you’re into puns like I am, a funky gift might be just the thing to balance out the sentimental aspect of Mother’s Day with a bit of levity.
5. Find A Grave Visit
Plan an excursion to honor those that have passed on but still mean the world to us. I was raised going to pay my respects to my grandparents and great-grandparents’ gravesites on special occasions and I fear this is something, the importance of which, may be lost on the current generations.
It may seem a bit morbid or odd to modern sensibilities to go to a graveyard but in my opinion that genealogical/family history connection to our ancestors is not a matter of triviality, but duty. It is something that brings a family closer together and ultimately reinforces the idea of ‘family.’
Visiting a loved one’s resting place can also be a meaningful Mother’s Day gift for those of our mothers who have passed on – for us and them. If you live in a different city than where your mother has been interred then you can always use a service like Find A Grave to add virtual flowers and a note to a memorial; if your loved one does not have a memorial, then Mother’s Day would be the perfect time to create one.
Of, if you’re a crazy obsessed genealogist / family historian like me, then you actually visit an ancestral cemetery with the intention of photographing all of the loved ones that have passed on for ALL of the mothers in the family. Now that’s one of the best gift ideas for Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day y’all!
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