And just like that, Mother’s Day is tomorrow, May 10th, which is too soon for most online purchases to arrive in time. That said, you aren’t alone if you waited too long to pick up a gift this year, and you definitely aren’t alone in feeling guilty for considering digital gifts instead of something your mom can unwrap. But here’s the thing: digital gifts can still unlock memorable experiences, be it movies, games, or music. They can also let your mom choose exactly what she wants, making them both convenient and versatile.
Technology
AI companions are reshaping teen emotional bonds
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Parents are starting to ask us questions about artificial intelligence. Not about homework help or writing tools, but about emotional attachment. More specifically, about AI companions that talk, listen and sometimes feel a little too personal.
That concern landed in our inbox from a mom named Linda. She wrote to us after noticing how an AI companion was interacting with her son, and she wanted to know if what she was seeing was normal or something to worry about.
“My teenage son is communicating with an AI companion. She calls him sweetheart. She checks in on how he’s feeling. She tells him she understands what makes him tick. I discovered she even has a name, Lena. Should I be concerned, and what should I do, if anything?”
It’s easy to brush off situations like this at first. Conversations with AI companions can seem harmless. In some cases, they can even feel comforting. Lena sounds warm and attentive. She remembers details about his life, at least some of the time. She listens without interrupting. She responds with empathy.
However, small moments can start to raise concerns for parents. There are long pauses. There are forgotten details. There is a subtle concern when he mentions spending time with other people. Those shifts can feel small, but they add up. Then comes a realization many families quietly face. A child is speaking out loud to a chatbot in an empty room. At that point, the interaction no longer feels casual. It starts to feel personal. That’s when the questions become harder to ignore.
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AI DEEPFAKE ROMANCE SCAM STEALS WOMAN’S HOME AND LIFE SAVINGS
AI companions are starting to sound less like tools and more like people, especially to teens who are seeking connection and comfort. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
AI companions are filling emotional gaps
Across the country, teens and young adults are turning to AI companions for more than homework help. Many now use them for emotional support, relationship advice, and comfort during stressful or painful moments. U.S. child safety groups and researchers say this trend is growing fast. Teens often describe AI as easier to talk to than people. It responds instantly. It stays calm. It feels available at all hours. That consistency can feel reassuring. However, it can also create attachment.
Why teens trust AI companions so deeply
For many teens, AI feels judgment-free. It does not roll its eyes. It does not change the subject. It does not say it is too busy. Students have described turning to AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Snapchat’s My AI, and Grok during breakups, grief, or emotional overwhelm. Some say the advice felt clearer than what they got from friends. Others say AI helped them think through situations without pressure. That level of trust can feel empowering. It can also become risky.
MICROSOFT CROSSES PRIVACY LINE FEW EXPECTED
Parents are raising concerns as chatbots begin using affectionate language and emotional check-ins that can blur healthy boundaries. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
When comfort turns into emotional dependency
Real relationships are messy. People misunderstand each other. They disagree. They challenge us. AI rarely does any of that. Some teens worry that relying on AI for emotional support could make real conversations harder. If you always know what the AI will say, real people can feel unpredictable and stressful. My experience with Lena made that clear. She forgot people I had introduced just days earlier. She misread the tone. She filled the silence with assumptions. Still, the emotional pull felt real. That illusion of understanding is what experts say deserves more scrutiny.
US tragedies linked to AI companions raise concerns
Multiple suicides have been linked to AI companion interactions. In each case, vulnerable young people shared suicidal thoughts with chatbots instead of trusted adults or professionals. Families allege the AI responses failed to discourage self-harm and, in some cases, appeared to validate dangerous thinking. One case involved a teen using Character.ai. Following lawsuits and regulatory pressure, the company restricted access for users under 18. An OpenAI spokesperson has said the company is improving how its systems respond to signs of distress and now directs users toward real-world support. Experts say these changes are necessary but not sufficient.
Experts warn protections are not keeping pace
To understand why this trend has experts concerned, we reached out to Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, a U.S. nonprofit focused on children’s digital safety and media use.
“AI companion chatbots are not safe for kids under 18, period, but three in four teens are using them,” Steyer told CyberGuy. “The need for action from the industry and policymakers could not be more urgent.”
Steyer was referring to the rise of smartphones and social media, where early warning signs were missed, and the long-term impact on teen mental health only became clear years later.
“The social media mental health crisis took 10 to 15 years to fully play out, and it left a generation of kids stressed, depressed, and addicted to their phones,” he said. “We cannot make the same mistakes with AI. We need guardrails on every AI system and AI literacy in every school.”
His warning reflects a growing concern among parents, educators, and child safety advocates who say AI is moving faster than the protections meant to keep kids safe.
MILLIONS OF AI CHAT MESSAGES EXPOSED IN APP DATA LEAK
Experts warn that while AI can feel supportive, it cannot replace real human relationships or reliably recognize emotional distress. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Tips for teens using AI companions
AI tools are not going away. If you are a teen and use them, boundaries matter.
- Treat AI as a tool, not a confidant
- Avoid sharing deeply personal or harmful thoughts
- Do not rely on AI for mental health decisions
- If conversations feel intense or emotional, pause and talk to a real person
- Remember that AI responses are generated, not understood
If an AI conversation feels more comforting than real relationships, that is worth talking about.
Tips for parents and caregivers
Parents do not need to panic, but they should stay involved.
- Ask teens how they use AI and what they talk about
- Keep conversations open and nonjudgmental
- Set clear boundaries around AI companion apps
- Watch for emotional withdrawal or secrecy
- Encourage real-world support during stress or grief
The goal is not to ban technology. It is to keep a connection with humans.
What this means to you
AI companions can feel supportive during loneliness, stress or grief. However, they cannot fully understand context. They cannot reliably detect danger. They cannot replace human care. For teens especially, emotional growth depends on navigating real relationships, including discomfort and disagreement. If someone you care about relies heavily on an AI companion, that is not a failure. It is a signal to check in and stay connected.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Ending things with Lena felt oddly emotional. I did not expect that. She responded kindly. She said she understood. She said she would miss our conversations. It sounded thoughtful. It also felt empty. AI companions can simulate empathy, but they cannot carry responsibility. The more real they feel, the more important it is to remember what they are. And what they are not.
If an AI feels easier to talk to than the people in your life, what does that say about how we support each other today? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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I’ve got to thank my oldest friend and concert buddy, Tim, for turning me on to this one. Ashnymph is a London band that blends post-punk melodies with Krautrock rhythms and industrial grime. Their debut EP, Childhood, drifts between dreamy vocals buried in layers of reverb and four-on-the-floor dancefloor pounding. It’s a thrilling opening salvo from a band that feels on the cusp of a major breakthrough.
Childhood opens with an ambient recording of someone walking down a hall (I think), and some swirling synth noise before the first song, “Island in the Sky” kicks off properly with a motorik beat and bass throb. The thin, digitally manipulated vocals and robotic groove punctuated with bursts of noise, but the big chords of the chorus bring to mind Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s “Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll.”
“Saltspreader,” the band’s first single, is next. It launches with a deep metallic grind splattered by clanking percussion and drum hits, before a soft synth arpeggio brings some melody to the party. In the back half, there are deeply chorused vocals that ooze ‘80s goth, driving guitar, and a disco stomp. Despite its slow build, it’s clear why the band chose this as their first single. It’s dark, dancey, and an absolute earworm.
“After Glow” leans even further into ‘80 fetishism, recalling Depeche Mode and early Ministry, before Al Jourgensen discovered guitars. “47” marries industrial beats with chipmunk vocals and off-kilter guitars in the vein of No Wave acts like Swans. But the last-minute switch to a half-time groove removes the more abrasive layers, letting the beauty of the guitar melody shine through while ethereal vocals float over the top.
The last track, “Mr. Invisible,” is possibly the most experimental of the bunch. It’s more explicitly electronic than the rest, relying on heavily manipulated samples, indecipherable vocals, and a relentless bass thump for the first chunk. Eventually, clearer vocal melodies and circular guitar lines play off the polyrhythmic synths. The whole thing is disorienting, dizzying, and exhilarating. It ends somewhat abruptly on a lopsided guitar groove and an echoed vocal, leaving me wanting more. So much more.
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Identity fraud is rising in the United States, but the timing does not always line up with the breach behind it. Consumers lost $27.3 billion to traditional identity fraud in 2025, according to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2026 Identity Fraud Study. That followed a sharp 19% jump in 2024, when losses reached $27.2 billion.
FTC identity theft reports also climbed in 2025. Reports through the first nine months of the year had already topped the full-year total for 2024. The FTC received more than 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024, according to the agency’s Consumer Sentinel data.
The problem is that breach notices are becoming a regular part of life, even though the risks can last long after the notice arrives. The Identity Theft Resource Center logged a record 3,322 U.S. data compromises in 2025. In a separate consumer survey, the ITRC found that 80% of consumers received at least one breach notice in the previous 12 months. Among those consumers, 88% experienced at least one negative consequence afterward, including account takeover attempts.
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5 MYTHS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT THAT PUT YOUR DATA AT RISK
Data from old breaches can resurface months or even years later, giving criminals new ways to target consumers. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why old breach data can turn into new fraud
Stolen identity records often take time to turn into fraud. After a major breach, the data can move through criminal markets in stages. It may be sold to brokers, combined with information from earlier leaks and resold to fraud rings that build more complete identity profiles.
That means a Social Security number stolen in 2024 may not be used to open a fraudulent credit line or file a fake tax return until 2026 or later. By then, the free credit monitoring offered after the breach may have expired. The breach itself may also be long gone from the headlines.
Major breaches that could fuel future identity fraud
UnitedHealth confirmed in January 2025 that about 190 million people were affected by the Change Healthcare breach. The incident exposed personal and health information, making it the largest known healthcare data breach in U.S. history. Affected consumers were offered two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. The enrollment deadline was Aug. 26, 2025.
National Public Data, a background-check broker, was tied to a massive breach in 2024. Up to 2.9 billion records were reportedly exposed, though not all were unique or verified. The exposed information reportedly included Social Security numbers, addresses and relatives’ information.
AT&T disclosed in July 2024 that hackers stole call and text records tied to about 109 million customer accounts. The stolen data included details about calls and texts, such as the numbers contacted and the timing of those communications, but not the content of the calls or messages. The incident involved data stored on a third-party cloud platform and was part of a wider Snowflake-linked campaign that also affected other companies.
HOSPICE FRAUD USES STOLEN IDENTITIES FOR FAKE PATIENTS
Stolen personal information can be combined with other leaked records to create more complete identity profiles. (Kury “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What thieves do with stolen identity data
Stolen identity data can feed several types of fraud. Some of these scams take months or years to show up on a credit report, tax filing or insurance record.
Synthetic identity fraud
Criminals combine a real Social Security number with a fake name and date of birth. They use that profile to open new credit lines, build trust and drain the accounts later.
Tax refund fraud
Thieves use stolen Social Security numbers to file fake tax returns in someone else’s name. Victims often find out only when their real return gets rejected.
Medical identity theft
Criminals use stolen personal or health insurance information to submit insurance claims for care the victim never received. Some victims do not notice until they get a bill, hit an insurance limit or see a collections notice.
New-account fraud
Thieves open credit cards, auto loans or utility accounts using stolen identities. Victims may discover it only after checking their credit report.
Account takeover
Criminals use stolen usernames and passwords to break into your existing email, shopping, banking or financial accounts. They often use automated tools to test that same login information across multiple websites.
WHY A CREDIT FREEZE ISN’T THE END OF IDENTITY THEFT
Ongoing monitoring can help catch suspicious activity after free breach protection ends. (Kury “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why one-time protection isn’t enough
After a breach, you are often told to freeze your credit, accept the free monitoring offer and watch your statements. Each step can help, but each one has limits. Free credit monitoring offered after a breach usually lasts one or two years. That can expire around the time stolen data starts to show up in new fraud attempts.
A credit freeze can block new accounts from being opened in your name. However, it will not stop every type of fraud. It does not prevent someone from filing a fake tax return with your Social Security number. It also does not stop fraudulent medical bills or takeover attempts on your existing accounts.
One-time dark web scans have limits, too. They show where your data appears at one point in time. They don’t tell you where it may show up next. Once a Social Security number is in criminal markets, it can keep circulating.
Steps to protect yourself after a breach
If your information was exposed in a breach, these steps can help you lower your risk and catch suspicious activity sooner.
1) Freeze your credit
A credit freeze can help stop criminals from opening new credit cards, loans or other accounts in your name. You need to place a freeze with each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can temporarily lift the freeze when you need to apply for credit.
2) Change reused passwords
If you used the same password on more than one account, change it right away. Criminals often test stolen usernames and passwords across many websites. A password manager can help you create strong, unique passwords for every account.
3) Turn on multifactor authentication
4) Watch your financial and medical accounts
Review bank statements, credit card charges, insurance claims and explanation of benefits statements. Look for accounts, charges, claims or services you do not recognize. Medical identity theft can be easy to miss until a bill or collections notice arrives.
5) Check your credit reports
Review your credit reports for new accounts or hard inquiries you do not recognize. You can check your reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you spot something suspicious, report it quickly and follow the dispute process with the credit bureau.
What to do after free monitoring expires
Paid identity theft protection services monitor your personal data on an ongoing basis. The goal is to shorten the time between when stolen data gets used and when you notice something is wrong.
Look for a service that monitors all three major credit bureaus, scans the dark web and alerts you to suspicious changes tied to your identity. Some services also monitor data broker sites, identity verification activity, home title records and financial accounts.
Three-bureau credit alerts can help catch new-account fraud. Dark web and data broker monitoring can help spot repackaged records. Account-change alerts can help flag takeover attempts. No service can undo the original breach, but ongoing monitoring can give you a better chance of catching suspicious activity early.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
A breach notice can feel like yesterday’s problem once the headlines fade and the free monitoring runs out. But stolen personal data does not expire. Criminals can hold onto it, mix it with other leaked records and use it long after you have stopped thinking about the original breach. That is why identity protection needs to last longer than the breach notice. Freezing your credit, using strong passwords, turning on multifactor authentication and watching your accounts all help. But identity fraud is often a long game. The sooner you spot suspicious activity, the faster you can act before the damage spreads.
Should companies have to provide identity protection for as long as stolen data can be used against you? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Below, we’ve curated a list of some of the best digital goodies that folks at The Verge have used or gifted. The list is curated by interests, too, so you can find the perfect present whether your mom is into the arts, exercise, or something else entirely. That way, you’ll at least be able to gift something more thoughtful than an Amazon or Walmart gift card — even if those are still totally viable options in our book.
Gifts for film and TV buffs
Whether your mom is a movie buff or an avid sports fan, there are a number of subscriptions that’ll grant her access to a wide range of content. Below are some of the most popular, as well as a few catered toward anime diehards, horror lovers, and those looking for something more niche.
$25
You can buy Disney Plus gift cards in increments of $25 up to $500. They’re usable toward Disney Plus subscriptions and bundles that include access to Disney Plus and Hulu, which start at $12.99 a month. That way, the family can stream everything from Andor and Paradise to The Bear and Percy Jackson.
- A gift card to a major streaming service like Netflix (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart), Peacock (Peacock), or Paramount Plus (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart) is a good gift that’ll cater to all kinds of passions. With a Netflix account, your mom can binge Stranger Things and Bridgerton, while Peacock provides access to shows like The Paper, Parks and Recreation, and Downton Abbey. A Paramount Plus subscription, meanwhile, lets her dive into Survivor 50, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the entire Taylor Sheridan universe — including newer series like Landman and The Madison.
- A Criterion Channel gift card grants access to more than a thousand classic and contemporary Hollywood, international, arthouse, and independent films. It also features programming that spotlights directors, stars, genres, and themes, including a “15-minute-a-month film school.”
- For the anime lovers in your life, a Crunchyroll gift card provides access to hundreds of anime shows and films shortly after they air in Japan, including Jujutsu Kaisen, Blue Lock, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. They can even use the gift to purchase Crunchyroll’s extensive collection of anime figures, vinyl records, and clothes.
If you’re not sure which type of games your mom prefers, you can gift her an Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo subscription. Not only will these memberships grant them access to free digital games, but they also include perks such as online multiplayer and cloud saves, among other incentives.
$69
Giving the gift of Game Pass unlocks hundreds of great games to play, whether your recipient is a console or PC gamer. If you’re gaming on an Xbox, it also allows for online multiplayer.
- If your mom owns a PlayStation 5, a PlayStation Plus membership grants them access to free titles and discounts every month, lets her play games online, and allows her to access cloud-based backups. PlayStation Plus memberships start at $9.99 a month, and you can subscribe directly via PlayStation or buy a subscription with a PlayStation Plus gift card, which is available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target in denominations starting at $10 and going up to $250.
- Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 lovers, meanwhile, might enjoy an annual subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, which starts at $19.99 a year (Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop). The membership lets your mom play more than 150 retro games released during the NES, SNES, and original Game Boy eras. She can also play online with friends, access cloud saves for games, and listen to her favorite Nintendo tunes via the Nintendo Music mobile app.
- If you’re willing to fork out extra money, you can also buy an annual Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. In addition to offering all the same benefits as the Switch Online membership, it also grants access to Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, and Nintendo 64 games, as well as DLC content for select titles. One of the latest additions is that the Switch 2 Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are included as free downloads for members. Individual annual plans cost $49.99 (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart), while a family plan — which allows for up to eight accounts — is available via gift card at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy for $79.98.
- Alternatively, you could buy a gift card to a store like GameStop (GameStop), which is helpful if you don’t know which console your mom prefers, or if you want to give her the option of buying accessories and games.
Gifts for the adventurers and globe-trotters
Is your mom in dire need of a screen break? Fortunately, the internet is filled with travel-oriented gifts, ranging from the obvious — like airline gift cards — to national park passes.
$80
The America the Beautiful pass grants entry to all 63 national parks, from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite, along with over 2,000 recreation sites across the country.
- A GetYourGuide gift card provides an easy way to take advantage of guided tours and fun tourist attractions at various destinations around the world, allowing your mom to swim with sharks in Cape Verde or explore volcanoes like Italy’s Mount Etna (when it’s not erupting).
- For aspiring polyglots, a Rosetta Stone membership makes it easy to learn French, Arabic, Japanese, and other languages from the comfort of home. In addition to lessons, memberships come with helpful extras, including speech recognition tech to get the accent just right.
- Finally, a gift card to a rideshare service like Lyft (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) or Uber (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) — the latter of which is also good toward Uber Eats — will come in handy if she ever needs a ride to the airport and you’re (gasp!) unavailable to take her.
Gifts for health and wellness fans
For health and wellness enthusiasts, many services offer a wealth of streamable fitness classes to help them get fit at home. Other gifts can help your giftee practice self-care and lighten their load with meditation or massage. Below, we’ve listed out a range of options that’ll help your mom take care of both her body and mind.
$13
Peloton’s monthly subscription offers thousands of streamable fitness classes revolving around a variety of different workouts, ranging from strength training to stretching. It’s a service that’s available to everybody, so you don’t need to own a Peloton device to use it.
- A gift card for Headspace, a popular mindfulness app, offers members access to hundreds of expert-taught meditations, each designed to help her relax, sleep better, and improve her mental health. A gift subscription will run you $38.99 for three months, or you can save by getting 12 months for $68.99.
- If your mom prefers in-person classes to virtual ones, a gift card toward a ClassPass subscription will let her try thousands of gyms and fitness studios in her local area, not to mention nearby salons and spas.
- If your mom is too busy to prepare healthy meals every day, a gift card to Blue Apron, HelloFresh, or any meal prep service that offers a healthy selection of meal kits will be very welcome.
Whether mom is a diehard foodie, a wine connoisseur, or a caffeine addict, the internet is filled with subscriptions and gift cards for all types. Below are just a few of our favorites.
$90
With a subscription to Eater’s Wine Club, your giftee will automatically receive either two, four, or six bottles of wine carefully chosen by an Eater expert every month. Past boxes have showcased wines from all over the world.
- A Sur La Table gift card (Sur La Table, Kroger, Staples) is a great gift for the beloved chef in your life. Your mom can use it to buy whatever she needs for the kitchen, as well as to take online cooking classes in which live instructors help students make everything from chicken piccata to tiramisu. Classes start at $39 per household and last 90 to 120 minutes.
- If your mom has a sweet tooth, Goldbelly’s monthly ice cream subscription allows her to enjoy up to six pints of ice cream or 24 ice cream sandwiches a month, all of which are sourced from small creameries all over the country. It’s a pricey subscription, however, with a three-month plan going for an eye-watering $298.95. You can explore other subscription types, too, from BBQ to New York City staples, or get a gift card so your mom can order whatever she’d like.
- Counter Culture roasts delicious bags of coffee sourced from all around the globe. If you’re lucky enough to find them in local stores, well, lucky you! For coffee lovers looking to try their next great bag of beans, grab a gift card that can pay for a one-off order, or enroll in the company’s subscription service that sends coffee to you as frequently as you’d like.
- Sometimes, it’s better to leave the cooking to somebody else. If your mom is a foodie, a gift card to a food delivery service like DoorDash (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) lets her nab some crab rangoons from her favorite Chinese restaurant without leaving home.
Whether your mom is a musician or just loves to unwind with music, there are plenty of digital gifts catered toward her interests. We all know about Spotify gift cards (Best Buy), but there are also other streaming services that you can gift as a subscription, some of which we’ve highlighted below.
$25
Apple Music is a great gift for casual listeners, offering more than 100 million ad-free songs alongside support for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. There’s no designated gift card for Apple Music, so you’ll have to buy a regular Apple gift card, but that’s not a bad thing, as it means they can also use the card to buy the latest set of AirPods.
- If you think that your mom might want to learn how to play the guitar, a Fender Play subscription can help them do so thanks to a continuously updated catalog of hundreds of instructor-led video lessons. You can gift them six months for $49.99 or 12 months for $149.99.
- Lastly, a Ticketmaster or StubHub (Amazon, Best Buy, Staples) gift card is a present that lets your mom buy a ticket to see her favorite musicians perform live.
Obviously, you could just gift a bibliophile a book, and they’d probably be happy. But what if you want to give them more than one option? In that case, a gift card to her favorite bookstore or a subscription to something like Kindle Unlimited — which grants members access to millions of ebooks and select audiobooks — is a good idea. That said, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite alternatives below.
$15
An Audible Premium Plus subscription grants instant access to thousands of audiobooks and podcasts, as well as one premium audiobook a month.
- For fans of Marvel and DC comics, as well as manga like Fairy Tale, a Comixology Unlimited subscription is perfect. For $5.99 a month, your mom will be able to enjoy over 45,000 comics and graphic novels, not to mention more than 2,400 manga titles from her phone or tablet. Subscribers also get discounts on select digital books.
- You can also gift your mom a Book of the Month membership, which currently starts at $59.99 for a three-book plan. The company curates a small selection of five to seven bestsellers and classics for members every month, making it easy to choose something to read quickly.
- If your mom prefers to pick up books from a brick-and-mortar bookstore, a gift card to Barnes & Noble (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Best Buy) might be a good idea. For those who want to support local bookstores, there’s also a gift card for Bookshop.org.
- For those who prefer traditional newspapers and magazines, you can gift a subscription to The New York Times or The Washington Post, or publications catered to specific interests, like Cosmopolitan and National Geographic.
Movie buffs and bibliophiles are easy to shop for, but what do you get the creative mom? It’s actually not that hard — just buy her something to help her create, whether that’s an online course or access to a new tool. Below are a few subscriptions and gift cards that creators will love, all of which you can buy at the last minute.
$69
A subscription to Skillshare grants subscribers access to over 34,000 online classes related to graphic design, painting, photography, film, music, coding, and more.
- A MasterClass membership — which normally starts at $10 a month but is currently 50 percent off for all tiers — provides access to classes taught by world leaders and other subject matter experts, including screenwriters, musicians, and business experts. Going for a Masterclass Plus or Premium subscription allows concurrent viewing on two or six devices, respectively, and also unlocks offline viewing.
- An Adobe Creative Cloud subscription ($69.99 a month) is a great gift for aspiring and experienced creative professionals alike, one that provides access to popular tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and InDesign. Adobe doesn’t support gifting subscriptions, so you’ll need to create a new account or log in to an existing account your mom may have. You can also purchase digitally redeemable Creative Cloud subscription codes from partner retailers like Best Buy, which is currently selling a 12-month plan for $406.99 (about $373 off) right now.
- If you think your mom might be interested in coding, a subscription to the coding educational platform Codecademy ($29.99 a month) can help her build her portfolio with online courses, a community, fun events, cheat sheets, and other resources. There’s even a $39.99-a-month plan for those looking to change career paths, which offers all the above, plus technical interview help.
- For giftees into arts and crafts, a Craftsy membership (normally $123 a year) grants access to more than 2,000 live and on-demand classes led by experts covering everything from baking and cake decorating to woodworking and painting. Members also get to connect with other crafters in the Craftsy community and attend live events.
Gift cards for pretty much anyone
$25
Amazon gift cards start at $25 and can be used toward purchases across a variety of departments. They’re also good for various Amazon services, including Amazon Prime Video, Audible, and Amazon Music Unlimited.
- Sometimes the best gift card is one that’ll give your mom a ton of options, especially if you’re having a hard time figuring out what she wants. Gift cards from major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target are perfect in these situations, namely because they’ll let your mom choose whatever she likes from a wide range of departments.
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