Shopping for anyone you care about can be a minefield, but there’s extra pressure on Mother’s Day. You want to show Mom how appreciated and loved she is, but let’s be honest: There are plenty of opportunities to choke. Kitchen gifts are risky because you don’t want to imply that she should be cooking for her family even more than she probably already is. On the flip side, trinkets with no practical value can end up collecting dust. And while some people favor jewelry for Mother’s Day, that option might be too cliche or downright out of your budget. Lucky for you, I have an alternative gift in mind that I can almost guarantee will be a hit: a SodaStream.
All it takes is the press of a button to make one liter of sparkling water with this machine — and it works in just seconds. It comes with a 1-liter bottle and a canister of CO2, which needs to be replaced every one to two months with regular use. I have an older version, but newer models have come out since (like the SodaStream E-Terra below).
The E-Terra is one of SodaStream’s newer models, and it has very similar functions to the model I have. It’s an electric soda maker that works with just one touch, and it has three preset carbonation levels to choose from.
Why I love my SodaStream
I genuinely look forward to using my SodaStream for a little treat at the end of each day. (A vacation would be ideal, but that’s not realistic — I’ll take what I can get.) I have a 2.5-year-old, and I really started to appreciate my SodaStream when I realized weekday mornings as a mom were too exhausting if I had an alcoholic drink the night before. It’s now become a central part of my routine after my daughter goes to sleep. These days, I honestly drink more sparkling water than flat water.
With the SodaStream, I can make a liter of delightfully fizzy water with the touch of a button — it couldn’t be any easier to use. Just install the CO2 cartridge in the back of the machine and plug the appliance into a wall outlet. Simply fill the included 1-liter bottle with water and snap it into place so the carbonation dispenser is positioned inside. Choose the carbonation level by pressing one of the three buttons on top, and in less than 30 seconds, you’ll be able to enjoy a bottle of sparkling water.
My favorite part about using the SodaStream is that the plain fizzy water can be flavored any way I want. I typically make a liter of sparkling water and mix it with Tilden’s nonalcoholic bottled cocktails or Ghia’s Berry Aperitif — but you could easily combine it with all kinds of nonalcoholic beverages to create a different mocktail every night.
The only downside to using this soda maker frequently is that replacement canisters of CO2 are $69 for a pack of two. However, each canister lasts four to eight weeks depending on how often you use it. Personally, I think having my very own fountain of sparkling water that I can tap into whenever I’m in the mood is worth the expense.
Why it’s a great gift for Mom
All kinds of people, not just parents, enjoy sparkling water, but hear me out: This SodaStream is an especially great gift for moms. Mothers put an unquantifiable amount of effort — which often takes the form of thankless and invisible labor — into supporting their families. That can manifest in so many different ways: Maybe it means long hours in the office to pay for sports uniforms and gymnastics class, or packing lunch and folding laundry every single day.
When everything on the to-do list is finally crossed off, they deserve some time to decompress (alone, preferably!), when they don’t have to worry about accommodating everyone else and can finally focus on themselves. In the midst of a busy life and hectic schedule, sometimes all that’s possible is an hour or two on the couch, eating their favorite snack and watching the show they picked out, with a delicious beverage in hand. And that’s where the SodaStream comes in. She deserves to have sparkling water on demand!
The SodaStream is particularly useful if you know a mom who wakes up early to get to work or to hustle her children to school. A glass of wine can be nice in the evening, but it can also lead to more sluggish mornings. Nonalcoholic carbonated water simply doesn’t have the same risk, so no matter how much Mom drinks, she doesn’t have to worry about a fuzzy headache in the morning. That’s why it’s also the ideal gift for a new mom who’s breastfeeding.?Carbonated water is still a fun drink she can enjoy when winding down, and it’s completely safe for baby.
Bottom line
If there’s a mom in your life who could use a simple way to treat herself every day, she needs a SodaStream. It’s the ideal Mother’s Day gift because it’s useful in her everyday life and it shows that you thought about what might make her life easier. And if you really want to be her favorite person this year, add on the SodaStream subscription service so she doesn’t have to pay for her refills either.
