• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 04:33
CEST 10:33
KST 17:33
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Team TLMC #5 - Finalists & Open Tournaments0[ASL20] Ro16 Preview Pt2: Turbulence2Classic Games #3: Rogue vs Serral at BlizzCon9[ASL20] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Ascent10Maestros of the Game: Week 1/Play-in Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sept 8-14): herO & MaxPax split cups0WardiTV TL Team Map Contest #5 Tournaments0SC4ALL $6,000 Open LAN in Philadelphia7Weekly Cups (Sept 1-7): MaxPax rebounds & Clem saga continues29LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments3
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Sept 8-14): herO & MaxPax split cups SpeCial on The Tasteless Podcast Team TLMC #5 - Finalists & Open Tournaments Weekly Cups (Sept 1-7): MaxPax rebounds & Clem saga continues #1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series WardiTV TL Team Map Contest #5 Tournaments Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SC4ALL $6,000 Open LAN in Philadelphia
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 491 Night Drive Mutation # 490 Masters of Midnight Mutation # 489 Bannable Offense Mutation # 488 What Goes Around
Brood War
General
ASL20 General Discussion Playing StarCraft as 2 people on the same network [ASL20] Ro16 Preview Pt2: Turbulence Pros React To: SoulKey's 5-Peat Challenge BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL20] Ro16 Group C [IPSL] ISPL Season 1 Winter Qualis and Info! Is there English video for group selection for ASL [ASL20] Ro16 Group B
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Borderlands 3 Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile General RTS Discussion Thread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion LiquidDota to reintegrate into TL.net
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Big Programming Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread High temperatures on bridge(s)
TL Community
BarCraft in Tokyo Japan for ASL Season5 Final The Automated Ban List
Blogs
The Personality of a Spender…
TrAiDoS
A very expensive lesson on ma…
Garnet
hello world
radishsoup
Lemme tell you a thing o…
JoinTheRain
RTS Design in Hypercoven
a11
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1486 users

Need gift idea help :(

Blogs > blabber
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
blabber
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4448 Posts
November 14 2013 05:40 GMT
#1
My friend's birthday is this weekend. I met her about a year ago and she's already promised me she's going to give me something for my birthday next month. I would like to give her something meaningful & useful but I'm really new to this gift-giving stuff

She's a single mom with a 4-year-old son. She works long hours to support herself and her son. I would like to get her something related to this fact. However, having no kids myself nor really any experience with them, I'm not exactly sure what kind of gift would help out raising a kid. So basically I'm asking what kind of gift ideas would be good for a single mom?

blabberrrrr
Fumanchu
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
Canada669 Posts
November 14 2013 05:47 GMT
#2
Get her a cool coffee mug with a coffee gift card and some nice smelling shit thrown inside. Single mom's are usually very busy and treasure their "Me" time. Give her a gift that she can use to relax and as a bonus every time she uses the gift she's thinking of you.
Easy doesnt fit into grownup life.
Capped
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom7236 Posts
November 14 2013 06:05 GMT
#3
Expanding on that, one of those insta-boil kettles are awesome. Instead of waiting 5 minutes for a cup of tea / coffee she waits 3 seconds ^_^
Useless wet fish.
Rollin
Profile Joined March 2011
Australia1552 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-14 07:27:01
November 14 2013 07:22 GMT
#4
On November 14 2013 15:05 Capped wrote:
Expanding on that, one of those insta-boil kettles are awesome. Instead of waiting 5 minutes for a cup of tea / coffee she waits 3 seconds ^_^

How does this work? It takes 68KJ (250 * 4.2 * (90 - 25)) to heat a mere cup of water to 90C, which means that you'd have a power draw of 23KW, or over 10x that of a conventional kettle, to heat the water in three seconds. Most wall sockets are fused at 16A here in australia at 240V, which means you can only draw under 4KW of power (this is also shared between a few wall sockets. 30 seconds would be doable for a single cup though.

How do these work? I'm genuinely curious as I haven't heard of them before and was searching on ebay for one to no avail, before I calculated that it was completely improbable.

edit: seems like you should only draw 2.4KW out of a wall socket here lol.
Throw off those chains of reason, and your prison disappears. | Check your posting frequency timeline: http://www.teamliquid.net/mytlnet/post_activity_img.php
MysteryMeat1
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States3292 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-14 07:44:20
November 14 2013 07:43 GMT
#5
On November 14 2013 16:22 Rollin wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 14 2013 15:05 Capped wrote:
Expanding on that, one of those insta-boil kettles are awesome. Instead of waiting 5 minutes for a cup of tea / coffee she waits 3 seconds ^_^

How does this work? It takes 68KJ (250 * 4.2 * (90 - 25)) to heat a mere cup of water to 90C, which means that you'd have a power draw of 23KW, or over 10x that of a conventional kettle, to heat the water in three seconds. Most wall sockets are fused at 16A here in australia at 240V, which means you can only draw under 4KW of power (this is also shared between a few wall sockets. 30 seconds would be doable for a single cup though.

How do these work? I'm genuinely curious as I haven't heard of them before and was searching on ebay for one to no avail, before I calculated that it was completely improbable.

edit: seems like you should only draw 2.4KW out of a wall socket here lol.



Magic...

its also like 2 minutes though
"Cause ya know, Style before victory." -The greatest mafia player alive
Capped
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom7236 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-14 08:20:30
November 14 2013 08:14 GMT
#6
On November 14 2013 16:43 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 14 2013 16:22 Rollin wrote:
On November 14 2013 15:05 Capped wrote:
Expanding on that, one of those insta-boil kettles are awesome. Instead of waiting 5 minutes for a cup of tea / coffee she waits 3 seconds ^_^

How does this work? It takes 68KJ (250 * 4.2 * (90 - 25)) to heat a mere cup of water to 90C, which means that you'd have a power draw of 23KW, or over 10x that of a conventional kettle, to heat the water in three seconds. Most wall sockets are fused at 16A here in australia at 240V, which means you can only draw under 4KW of power (this is also shared between a few wall sockets. 30 seconds would be doable for a single cup though.

How do these work? I'm genuinely curious as I haven't heard of them before and was searching on ebay for one to no avail, before I calculated that it was completely improbable.

edit: seems like you should only draw 2.4KW out of a wall socket here lol.



Magic...

its also like 2 minutes though


I dont know how it works. They do exist though, they're very fast, maybe not 3 seconds but closer to a minute then 5. I always assumed it was something to do with storing energy for bursts and bigger, faster heating elements.

Heres the thing ive used: http://www.tefal.co.uk/All Products/Breakfast/Hot Water On Demand/Products/Quick Cup Deluxe Black/Quick Cup Deluxe Black.htm
Useless wet fish.
MightyBill
Profile Joined October 2013
93 Posts
November 14 2013 10:49 GMT
#7
I started giving small gifts to my female friends. Just buy her like 5 presents in total, consisting of stuff like:

- Some candy
- A candle in a fancy color
- A gift card (like 5 or 10 euro's) to a perfume store or anywhere where you can buy some random stuff
- A nice card on which you say "happy birthday"
- Some random thing you think is funny and fits her personality (Like pink socks, or something funny for her kid that's really cheap)
Rollin
Profile Joined March 2011
Australia1552 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-14 11:35:07
November 14 2013 11:33 GMT
#8
On November 14 2013 16:43 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 14 2013 16:22 Rollin wrote:
On November 14 2013 15:05 Capped wrote:
Expanding on that, one of those insta-boil kettles are awesome. Instead of waiting 5 minutes for a cup of tea / coffee she waits 3 seconds ^_^

How does this work? It takes 68KJ (250 * 4.2 * (90 - 25)) to heat a mere cup of water to 90C, which means that you'd have a power draw of 23KW, or over 10x that of a conventional kettle, to heat the water in three seconds. Most wall sockets are fused at 16A here in australia at 240V, which means you can only draw under 4KW of power (this is also shared between a few wall sockets. 30 seconds would be doable for a single cup though.

How do these work? I'm genuinely curious as I haven't heard of them before and was searching on ebay for one to no avail, before I calculated that it was completely improbable.

edit: seems like you should only draw 2.4KW out of a wall socket here lol.



Magic...

its also like 2 minutes though


I dunno, because my kettle takes about a minute to boil a bit over a cup of water, and it's just a standard (cheap) electric kettle.

@capped
Ahh that looks like an instant hot water system idea (keep the water hot rather than boil when needed).
Throw off those chains of reason, and your prison disappears. | Check your posting frequency timeline: http://www.teamliquid.net/mytlnet/post_activity_img.php
Ideal26
Profile Blog Joined November 2013
United States185 Posts
November 14 2013 12:08 GMT
#9
Electric kettles take a couple of minutes to boil water. They have big, high resistance heating elements and if they're well made, they don't lose a lot of heat through the sides so most of the energy goes directly into heating the water.
I think the electric kettle, a mug, and tea/coffee would make a nice gift set.
Depending on your budget, other ideas would be a gift card for a massage, a mini spa, or a nail salon. Even better if you can arrange time where someone else is watching her kids so she can go enjoy the gift alone. You can buy nice "at home" spa sets (nice ones, like philosophy brand, not a walmart set) that would pair nicely with a bottle of good wine and/or fancy chocolates.
My advice would be to think of things she likes, and get something aimed at her. As a single mom who works long hours, she probably very rarely does anything for her or purchases anything she wants just for herself.
B.I.G.
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
3251 Posts
November 14 2013 12:57 GMT
#10
sign her up for a dating site

no way she could be offended by that haha

but seriously dont do that
SixStrings
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
Germany2046 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-14 14:04:53
November 14 2013 14:02 GMT
#11
Make her a coupon for you taking care of her spawn for a Saturday and add some massage or spa shit she can enjoy that day.

Just a nice and tidy "day-off" coupon. If she works that hard AND has a kid, I'm sure she'll appreciate it.

Make sure not to lose the kid though, and if you absolutely have to leave it in a car for several hours, leave one of the windows a crack open.

If the little dude is having a laugh, maybe she'll see what a great substitute father you'd be and you can fill the (her) gap until she finds someone better. Win-win-win-win situation.
Rollin
Profile Joined March 2011
Australia1552 Posts
November 14 2013 15:15 GMT
#12
On November 14 2013 21:08 Ideal26 wrote:
Electric kettles take a couple of minutes to boil water. They have big, high resistance heating elements and if they're well made, they don't lose a lot of heat through the sides so most of the energy goes directly into heating the water.

They actually have very low resistance heating elements, that way they don't need a big expensive (and potentially inefficient) transformer to get the same power output, as power is V^2/R.

I feel bad for derailing, but I love to educate!
Throw off those chains of reason, and your prison disappears. | Check your posting frequency timeline: http://www.teamliquid.net/mytlnet/post_activity_img.php
BisuDagger
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Bisutopia19257 Posts
November 14 2013 16:07 GMT
#13
You guys sure know a lot about kettles. Maybe you can get her a Mr. Tea Infuser. http://www.perpetualkid.com/mister-tea-infuser.aspx


[image loading]
ModeratorFormer Afreeca Starleague Caster: http://afreeca.tv/ASL2ENG2
Djzapz
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada10681 Posts
November 14 2013 16:12 GMT
#14
Coffee-related things are usually nice. A friend of mine told me his standard present is a scarf. Not sure where you live but women loooove teh scarf here. I also like to give bottles of wine. Normal people love their wine, and even if they don't, it's always good to have.
"My incompetence with power tools had been increasing exponentially over the course of 20 years spent inhaling experimental oven cleaners"
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
November 14 2013 18:11 GMT
#15
On November 14 2013 16:22 Rollin wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 14 2013 15:05 Capped wrote:
Expanding on that, one of those insta-boil kettles are awesome. Instead of waiting 5 minutes for a cup of tea / coffee she waits 3 seconds ^_^

How does this work? It takes 68KJ (250 * 4.2 * (90 - 25)) to heat a mere cup of water to 90C, which means that you'd have a power draw of 23KW, or over 10x that of a conventional kettle, to heat the water in three seconds. Most wall sockets are fused at 16A here in australia at 240V, which means you can only draw under 4KW of power (this is also shared between a few wall sockets. 30 seconds would be doable for a single cup though.

How do these work? I'm genuinely curious as I haven't heard of them before and was searching on ebay for one to no avail, before I calculated that it was completely improbable.

edit: seems like you should only draw 2.4KW out of a wall socket here lol.

Same way showers can produce hot water on demand... The water is already heated. With instant boiled water taps, it's just water that's kept a little below boiling. It's a shameful waste of energy to keep it heated all day just for convenience, but that's what it is. Hot water for your shower is a little less shameful since it's very well insulated, but I doubt a special kettle would retain much heat.

Coffee gifts kind of suck. That's what you get when you volunteer somewhere and they're like 'well I don't know have this thing.'

Get her a stuffed dragon or something for her daughter and her a thing that she would like based on things she's told you she likes in the last year lol. The best gifts are things we wouldn't just buy for ourselves, but that we actually kinda want. Coffee is something we can buy for ourselves, so it's a shitty gift. Maybe a really fancy coffee would be ok.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Marcinko
Profile Joined May 2013
South Africa1014 Posts
November 14 2013 18:33 GMT
#16
I don't know how much you’re willing to pay, but most mothers would really appreciate a day off. So you can volunteer yourself to babysit or hire a babysitter. For her day off you can then get her a day spa ticket. Nice and relaxing, she would be very grateful.
....
SixStrings
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
Germany2046 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-14 18:45:18
November 14 2013 18:44 GMT
#17
You have got to be kidding me.
ZeaL.
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States5955 Posts
November 14 2013 21:10 GMT
#18
On November 15 2013 01:12 Djzapz wrote:
Coffee-related things are usually nice. A friend of mine told me his standard present is a scarf. Not sure where you live but women loooove teh scarf here. I also like to give bottles of wine. Normal people love their wine, and even if they don't, it's always good to have.


+1 Scarf. Not too expensive, soft, and a woman seems to always need scarves.
BisuDagger
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Bisutopia19257 Posts
November 14 2013 21:44 GMT
#19
On November 15 2013 06:10 ZeaL. wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 15 2013 01:12 Djzapz wrote:
Coffee-related things are usually nice. A friend of mine told me his standard present is a scarf. Not sure where you live but women loooove teh scarf here. I also like to give bottles of wine. Normal people love their wine, and even if they don't, it's always good to have.


+1 Scarf. Not too expensive, soft, and a woman seems to always need scarves.

Not if you live in Florida. Scarves don't keep beach sand of you. xD
ModeratorFormer Afreeca Starleague Caster: http://afreeca.tv/ASL2ENG2
Kingsky
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Singapore298 Posts
November 15 2013 15:24 GMT
#20
a roomba or those instant coffee making machines that make you use small satchels which look really hipster.
Why do people hate the Colossus? Because the Colossus is like banksters from Wall Street: “too big to fail”. - TheDwF
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 27m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 133
ProTech69
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 1715
actioN 649
Zeus 378
Stork 307
Leta 186
Hyun 77
Rush 76
Dewaltoss 65
Mind 46
Aegong 44
[ Show more ]
sSak 26
Noble 18
Dota 2
BananaSlamJamma175
League of Legends
JimRising 484
Counter-Strike
olofmeister542
Stewie2K448
shoxiejesuss316
allub183
Other Games
ceh9445
C9.Mang0309
XaKoH 154
NeuroSwarm58
Mew2King43
Happy29
crisheroes11
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH216
• LUISG 22
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 4
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo1333
• HappyZerGling134
Upcoming Events
Afreeca Starleague
1h 27m
Snow vs Sharp
Jaedong vs Mini
Wardi Open
2h 27m
OSC
15h 27m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 1h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 1h
Light vs Speed
Larva vs Soma
PiGosaur Monday
1d 15h
LiuLi Cup
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
Maru vs Reynor
Cure vs TriGGeR
The PondCast
3 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Zoun vs Classic
[ Show More ]
Korean StarCraft League
4 days
RSL Revival
5 days
[BSL 2025] Weekly
5 days
BSL Team Wars
5 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Online Event
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL 20 Team Wars
Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup #2
HCC Europe

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21 Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
LASL Season 20
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1

Upcoming

2025 Chongqing Offline CUP
BSL Polish World Championship 2025
IPSL Winter 2025-26
BSL Season 21
SC4ALL: Brood War
BSL 21 Team A
Stellar Fest
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
EC S1
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.