I’m a geek. There I said it. And I will own it. Anyone who derives immense pleasure from figuring out a complex SQL statement, who spends hours happily in front of pivot tables, and feels the need to high five a fellow geek when a difficult problem is solved with an elegant piece of code is a geek. And that’s me.
As mother’s day approaches myself and fellow geeky/blogger/creative mums might like something a little different from the usual.
I haven’t always embraced my geekiness. Actually, it’s a pretty new thing. When I was deep in software development and regularly attending Tech Ed (i.e. Geek Mecca) I resisted strongly. The rallying call of “Geek Girls” to get more women into IT didn’t appeal. Or it may have appealed a little bit to someone already coding but I just couldn’t see how it would attract other women in. Geek has taken on a little more cachet since that time. The edge of cool by being subversively uncool. It’s also bloody useful to know some code as a blogger and professional.
So this mother’s day I will be delighted with flowers. But I’d potentially be more delighted with the following:
- A subscription to Adobe Creative Suite and perhaps a course to go along with it. Not a inexpensive option, but a valuable one to a mum who is a blogger, photographer or designer.
- A Spotify play list. Okay, lots of mums would love this. A take on the old mix tape by creating a list mum adores. Also very cheap. Get on it Dads.
- In a similar vein, a bunch of relevant podcasts,well-researched, downloaded and ready to go would be thoughtful. With a blue tooth speaker if she doesn’t have one already.
- Make up a gift voucher for Creative Market or Hungry Jpeg. These sites don’t have gift vouchers available but I would feel like a kid in a candy store if I had $20 or so to spend in them.
- Useful tech gadgets like chargers and power packs. My phone seems to drain itself of battery at an alarming rate. The little one borrowing it to play Pokemon Go constantly doesn’t help. Belkin has a gorgeous range of products in colours that complement your iPhone.
- I have my own domain. But if I didn’t, I’d consider it an awesome gift.
- Any course that dabbles in what she loves or tickets to a conference in that field. There are loads of online courses available and I think it’s a very thoughtful gift. You can buy a particular course, or a subscription to something like Skillshare or Lynda.
- If you really want her to geek out and freak out, an ardunino circuitry kit would be the ticket. An easy project would be an automatic light sensor. I actually think this is a great project to work on with the family – our kids aren’t necessarily the tech geniuses we imagine them to be. They have a good grasp on how to use very intuitive devices. But I firmly believe they need to know how to code.
All mums are different. Have our different quirks, personalities and passions. So instead of giving the generic why not support her creativity and her talents?
Thank you to Belkin for the wonderful prize offered on this post (competition now closed) and for sending me the items to trial run.
What’s the geekiest gift you have received or given?
I have never gotten a geeky gift but I totally think I should geek gift myself that power pack – swoon! My phone can’t last the day without a power boost and that pack looks just the ticket!
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid recently posted…She’s So Inspiring – Kate Morell
Mine is the same – and it’s only a year old! I’m forever charging it in the car.
What a cute gift pack! I love hearing that more women are embracing STEM stuff- it’s about time!
I’ve decided to stop being so quiet about my IT background and absolute love for it – I have always felt a bit, not embarrassed, but like people wouldn’t really care.
I would love to win this wonderful Belkin pack but I don’t recall giving or receiving any geeky gifts recently unless you include Makeup Geek brand makeup – lol – what else would you expect from a rose gold obsessed beauty blogger!
Ingrid @ Fabulous and Fun Life recently posted…bhave Smoothe Treatment
I can’t believe there is a geek makeup brand – how cool 🙂
Evangelion’s Rei Ayanami key ring….(I did also get a new laptop as a xmas present but that’s kind of too boring for words)
Lydia C. Lee recently posted…Girlfriend’s and Divorce
I had to look up who that was! Very cute.
I was given… actually I’m not really sure how to describe it. I should go find it. I’ve kept it for a blog post for weird gifts but it seems to weird even for that post. Anyway, it’s an essential oil type mini burner on essentially an extended flash drive, that you plug into your computer. Haven’t been game to use it. I’ve gone through so many laptops as it is and I can just see me spilling oil or the device burning the laptop out.
Wow – that is odd. I am not sure they thought that entirely through. Intriguing though.
Ooooh a mobile charging pack! *drools* I’m going to be 2 days post-surgery on Mother’s Day, so I expect to be waited on hand and foot for an entirely different reason 😉 (Nothing serious, I’m fine – just realised how that sounds!).
I hope all is okay – but the waited on hand and foot bit sounds good.
I’ve received the geeky gift of my own domain, and I thank my geeky husband for that (he does the geeking for me). I need to get my geeky pants on to think of something to get for the geek who has everything (again, my husband).
I have the same issue with my hubby – so hard to buy for and has all he needs/wants
I’m not sure if it’s necessarily ‘geeky’ but I vividly remember my dad giving me a tactical compass for my 7th birthday… to install into his boat. I suspect that may have been a for-you-for-me present 😉 I would actually love some new Tileapp.com bluetooth trackers. I think they are awesome for keeping track of our items! That Belkin charging pack sounds awesome too. And so pretty x
Mummalove recently posted…Dear 16 Year Old Me
That’s hilarious – yes, not entirely sure that he had you in mind when he bought that present.
Officially Geeking out on your list. A gift cert to Creative Market or an Adobe Subscription?? Yes Puh-lease!
Dawn recently posted…Some Mothers Regret Having Children: This Might Be Why
Wouldn’t that be so great?
I’m not sure if this qualifies as geeky but for one year, I asked for children’s books that I could add to my classroom library? Would love to win that pack especially for the car when listening to podcasts.
Even if it’s not geeky – it’s brilliant.
Oh, the pack sounds awesome (and you’ve suggested some great gifts!) I’m not sure I’ve been given anything IT geeky but I have my own categories of geekiness (combine a love of reading with a fascination for how the world operates and there’s a rabbit hole of opportunities for bizarreness right there!) We have been the givers of very geeky presents over the past 30 or more ideas to my early adopter father – I have absolutely no idea what most of the things do, but he seems pretty happy with them!
Helen K recently posted…Trusting yourself and you’ll see more of the colours of life
Haha! I love that our parents are still into techy things – I hope I’m still that person when my kids are older.
The geekiest gift I’ve ever been given is one I still use – Age of Mythology. It was given to me because I like ancient cultures and I’d make a great goddess controlling minions below me.
Vanessa recently posted…#ArchiveLove 25
I can definitely see you as a great goddess!
Robyna recently posted…How to create a uniform
Great gift ideas! The geekiest gift I ever got was actually my Christmas present from Dave last year. It was also the absolute most thoughtful gift he’s ever given me! For months leading up to Christmas I was constantly complaining about my crappy computer mouse and how shit it was, the way it wouldn’t respond or would lag, it was so frigging annoying, especially when I was editing photos or doing tricky photoshop stuff that needed precise control. It turns out Dave had been listening to me every time I swore at the damn thing and he bought me a new mouse for Christmas. It cost all of $10 and most people wouldn’t consider it a romantic gift at all, but the fact that he went and bought it, of his own accord, without me telling him what to get me was probably the best thing ever. It was both practical & thoughtful & showed that he really does listen to me!
#teamIBOT
That IS thoughtful. It’s like a double gift when you know that they have really thought about it.
My husband is the King of Nerds and all things Geeky. It’s hard to out-geek him, but I managed it one year with tickets to the Australian Skeptics Convention. Best. Present. Ever. Followed closely by a night in an observatory in the Peruvian desert, but that one wasn’t really a surprise so didn’t have the same reaction.
Wow. Both of those sound fabulous. I’m very intrigued by the observatory in the Peruvian desert.