The Best Gifts for Long-Distance Moms

Giftsforkeepingintouch

Our senior editor Jen Trolio has been using Aura frames to keep in touch with long-distance family members since 2020, and they’restill bringing her parents joy. You and your siblings can contribute images through an easy-to-use app, keeping mom up-to-date with everyone’s photos.

A worthwhile upgrade is Aura’s new HD frame, which is larger than the Carver above and boasts even sharper image quality. Troliosayshers “is remarkably thin and has an especially attractive mat as well as an anti-glare display,” which elevates the overall look and makes it nearly indistinguishable from a traditional picture frame, as long as you conceal the power cord.

Your mom should be as comfy as possible on the plane, and I’m a big fan of this memory-foamtravel pillowthat can also be inflated to her liking by pressing a hidden pump-up button.

There’s a lot of luggage going missing lately, but these sweet luggage tags come with an AirTag sleeve so that she can keep track her suitcase.

If you’ve requested a few items from your childhood bedroom, help your mom carry them with this capacious travel bag made from lightweight, washable nylon.

If your mom keeps in touch with you and the rest of the family via video chat, she deserves the best and easiest-to-use headphones. We’vetested plenty of them, and AirPods are always a safe bet for smartphone use.

Blue-light-blocking glasses are thought to help prevent headaches andmigrainesthat come with too much screen time. If Mom enjoysZoomingand FaceTiming with you, she might appreciate thisstylishtortoiseshell pair of reading glasses that we’ve named the verybest blue-light readersyou can buy, owing to their stylish design and solid frames.

This superlong, ten-foot charging cable is one of our most reliably life-changing gift recommendations, and it means Mom’s Instagram and TikTok sessions will never have to end.

As all real crossword fans know, the Wednesday puzzle hits that sweet spot of being neither too tricky nor too simple to solve over a morning cup of coffee. Which makes for a fun collaborative experience if you two tend to text each other clues.

A subscription gift will keep reminding your mom that you’re thinking of her. This one is ideal for jigsaw fiends and will keep her fitting pieces together all summer long.

If she’s more into arranging flowers than puzzle pieces, Fresh Sends curates the best seasonal bunches.

You and Mom can take one of these foodie-friendly virtual cooking classes — which are led by chefs from around the world — together. I like the sound of the Greek one.

Or you could virtually work out together, choosing from Alo’s many on-demand and livestreamed yoga, fitness, and mindfulness classes.

This Bluetooth printer rescues trapped smartphone photos from the camera roll. I especially like this as a gift for crafter moms who enjoy scrapbooking.

If she’s not going to enjoy printing the photos herself, Strategist senior writer Lauren Ro says that Artifact Uprising’s custom photo bookstake minutes to designbut look highly polished.

Book of the Month will send your mom a list of new fiction each month, then send her a copy of the book she’s most interested in.

If Mom lives far away from not only you but your own kids, thisgrandparent-approved“paper time capsule” with back-and-forth prompts will make the pen-pal process easy so she can keep in touch with her grandchildren.

Strategist associate editor Jeremy Rellosa got this motion-sensor bird feeder (which snaps pictures and videos of visiting cardinals and swallows) for his parents as a Christmas gift, and it has been a hit — to the extent that his family group chat has “started to feature more updates about birds than humans,”he says.

If you recently moved back to your own place after spending much of the past year back home, there’s a chance Mom is feeling tender about becoming an empty nester again.This (cool enough for summer) weighted blanket from our guide of thebest ones to giveshould help replicate a good old hug year-round.

Whether she’s missing you or simply worried about the world at large, this soothing lavender-scented stick (which Strategist contributor and mom Sara Gaynes Levydubbed“Ambien without the side effects”) will help her get some rest and relaxation.

For moms on the road, theseexpert-recommendedchairs have all the bells and whistles you could ever need when setting up at the RV park. As a bonus, there’s one for Dad, too.

Asimple and stylish hatthat’ll suit her new beach lifestyle.

Because she deserves a break, here’s a plant baby that doesn’t require too much nurturing.

This fluffy, doughnut-shapeddog bedcomes recommended by several members of the Strategist team, including senior writerLiza Corsillo, whose dog, Uli, “spends hours snoozing on it every day.”

She can still feel the pulse of the city by readingNew Yorkin print.