Gifts for the modern mom
Forget fl owers — today’s moms need gadgets to help them keep up — and slow down.
Mom- to- be
Your average mom- to- be probably takes for granted the ability to track and monitor many things in her life and so will expect the same for baby. Video monitors come in diff erent types, from standalones like Motorola’s Wireless Video Baby Monitor, at $ 130, to app-connected cameras such as Motorola’s Wi- Fi Baby Monitor Camera, around $ 180.
New mom
If you’re not worried about starting a screen addiction at an early age — and really, who can blame exhausted parents for trying to buy some peace and quiet — hand over your iPhone or iPad to your toddler. But not without fi rst putting it into the Laugh & Learn Apptivity Case from Fisher Price that protects your tech from toddler drool, teeth and other indignities. For all those critics at the coff ee shop who may turn up their noses at your electronic babysitter, just pretend it’s an oversized rattle.
Keep- fit mom
Busy moms are on the go nonstop, so why is it we have trouble scheduling in time for our own fi tness activities? Help mom with a gadget that makes it fun to track fi tness activity. Check out Vancouver’s own Tractivity ( at tractivityonline.com), a low- cost sensor that slips onto your shoelace or into an ankle band to track your movement, linking to online stats you can share via Facebook or email. The sensor is $ 20; bundled with a laceholder, ankle band and a year’s online membership, it’s $ 39. Pricier but an elegant option is the Misfi t Shine, another wearable activity monitor and one that links to an app on your smartphone. You can get it with a pendant, on a wristband and if mom doesn’t mind waiting for the latest, pre- order the Bloom Necklace at $ 80, an attractive design that lets you snap in your Shine, which costs about $ 100.
Gardening mom
Time- lapse cameras are a fun way to keep track of what’s happening in the garden. Check out Wingscapes’ time- lapse camera ( from $ 109) that can capture a garden party, the progress of those tomato plants, even the changing seasons in the garden. The BirdCam Pro Motion- Activated Camera by Wingscapes ( from $ 209) is activated by both heat and motion when birds and animals come close. Plus it can do time- lapse images.
Stressed- out mom
Everybody in the family expects mom to know where everything is, but who’s helping her keep track? Give your Mom some help with gadgets that can unearth her misplaced iPhone, alert her to those hidden car keys and let her know her luggage has landed. Some useful trackers to consider: The $ 60 hipKey, a little disk that sets off an alarm if your phone, your tablet, your kid — or other valuables — go past the safe zone; Kensington’s Proximo Tag at $ 29.99 that links to an app on your Android or iOS phone and for luggage that lets you know when it lands, check out the Trakdot Luggage Tracker at $ 60.