The Best Gifts for Parents To Make Their Lives Easier
The holiday season is upon us! Although this holiday season might be filled with fewer family get togethers or holiday parties, finding gifts for family and friends will always be a part of the season. If your circle of gift recipients includes busy parents, then we’ve got some handpicked recommendations for you!
We polled the Nurture Life team to find out their favorite gift ideas for parents and then rounded up the top picks below. From eminently practical to purely fun, we’ve got something thoughtful for everyone.
Time-Saving Gifts for Parents
This year, balancing time at home amid new schedules and work from home routines has been near impossible. So instead of neatly wrapping up a package and putting it under the tree, give your parent friends the gift of time. The helpful services below are super easy to arrange yet incredibly helpful for busy parents.
Cleaning Services
Little kids make big messes, and there’s nothing better than having someone else to deal with them for once. While any level of cleaning help would be appreciated, you can make your gift a little more special by opting for the deepest clean available—like shampooing the carpet, laundering the drapes or sanitizing the dishwasher. You can find and hire local cleaners on websites/apps like Handy or Tidy or even through Amazon.
Baby Proofing Services
Have friends with toddlers who are just starting to crawl, walk and shove every little thing into their mouths? Then they’re sure to love the gift of professional baby proofing services!
A fairly new and fast-growing industry, professional baby proofers inspect homes to make sure that they’re safe for toddlers and kids. Especially for first-time parents, this service not only saves time and limited parental energy but can also provide priceless peace of mind that, yes, the outlets will be covered, the blind cords will be out of reach and the furniture will be securely anchored in place.
Subscription Boxes
Whether the parents are fitness junkies, fashion lovers, book nerds or wine connoisseurs, there’s a subscription box for everything these days. These boxes range from the totally practical and time-saving, like diapers, to the more special and indulgent, like small-batch bean-to-bar chocolate (yes, please!).
Here are just a few favorites of the Nurture Life team:
- The Honest Company – diapers and baby wipes
- Culinarie Kit – gourmet spices, condiments, food samples and cooking utensils
- Birchbox – beauty products and personal grooming supplies
- KiwiCo Crate – arts, crafts and other creative activities for school-aged kids
- Atlas – single-origin coffees from around the world
- FabFitFun – a little of everything from home goods to beauty
Ready-to-Serve Meals
We can’t make a list of the best gifts for parents without mentioning our own baby, toddler and kids meals! We may be biased here, but we’re biased for a reason: Nurture Life meals make life easier for parents by taking the time and guesswork out of feeding their kids. Parents don’t have to spend time preparing food, and kids get great-tasting meals, wholesome ingredients and age-appropriate portions.
To gift Nurture Life meals to your friends or family, just purchase a gift card in any amount. The recipient will be able to choose their own meals to accommodate any food allergies, taste preferences or picky eating habits.
Practical Gifts to Make Daily Life Easier
Adorable holiday-themed Instagram photos aside, being a parent isn’t always glamorous—which means that the best gifts for parents often aren’t so glamorous, either. “Boring” though they may be, these practical gift ideas are certain to be appreciated!
To make everyday life a little easier and more enjoyable, we love these small but useful items:
- Temperature-controlled coffee mugs – great for getting parents through busy school mornings or jam-packed weekends
- Backseat car organizer – stops at least some of the backseat mess on road trips
- Kids sound machine – encourages a few more minutes of peaceful ZZZs
- Tidy cups – stops messy drips from laundry detergent or fabric softener
- Collapsible laundry hamper – makes space in your laundry room for easy storage
- Portable steamer – keeps mom or dad looking sharp, even if the morning was too crazy for ironing
- Travel utensil set – reduces the waste of plastic silverware and fits easily in a purse, diaper bag or kids lunchbox
- To do lists – perfect for parents who still love paper-based lists
- Tile stickers or keychains – incredibly useful for finding lost car keys (and actually getting everyone out the door on time)
Not sure which practical item mom or dad needs most? You can’t go wrong with a gift card to their favorite grocery or home goods store! You could even gift them a subscription to Amazon Prime or a nearby wholesale market.
Just for Fun: Experience-Based Gift Ideas
Making parents’ lives easier doesn’t have to be all work and no play. If you’d rather not give something purely practical this holiday season, consider:
- Gift card to their favorite restaurant for a night of carry-out
- Family membership to the local zoo or museum
- At-home movie night kit
- Subscription to at-home workout program
If your gift is something that’s parents-only, you could even include a voucher for babysitting services or offer to watch their kids yourself. Getting some alone time isn’t just fun for parents but can also provide a much-needed dose of self-care, which definitely makes daily life more manageable and fun.
With one or two of the ideas above, you’ll be giving the gift of assistance, relief, convenience and entertainment to the busy parents in your lives. More than anything, you’ll be showing your friends and family members how much you care about them and want to support their family—which is, after all, the reason for the season!
