A week staring goggle-eyed at the Mac has restricted me to monitoring the online selling community (whew, what a relief).  Every couple of hours someone has pinged me with an offer to 'Make Mum's Day' - be it Interflora (by several times the volume winner), John Lewis, Boots, Pressybox, Tumi, the RSPB and others... though surprisingly not Amazon (despite sending me several emails).

You might say books are not quite the right thing for a 'thanks Mum' kind of present - and you may be right - but compared to some of the suggestions I've received they'd be top of the list.

Pressybox - who really ought to be hot on an event like this - included in their eDM proposals such as a Spider Catcher, a Set of Scales, and (remember this one?... worry if you do) a Stylophone!

Meanwhile, not to be outdone in the Have-We-Really-Thought-This-Through? Department, among Boots' list of ideas were Nurofen, toothbrushes and - yes - Always sanitary towels.

Call me old fashioned, but what's wrong with a box of Cadbury's Milk Tray?

Or (admitting I'm being a little ingenuous in my interpretation of the eDMs), why are the retailers becoming greedy (and unfocused) and trying to sell me a whole load of other, completely unrelated gear at the same time?

Given that eDMs are generally opt-in, I can't greatly object to the bombardment I've received - it meets a need and has helped to solve it.  But I think it's just beginning to take advantage of my goodwill when it starts asking for a bunch more of my time, and money.

There's also the issue I alluded to in my recent attempted massacre of Valentine's eDMs - what if the recipient doesn't have a Mum?  Or there's bad news, or family problems... or that kind of thing?  Okay - so it's opt-in, you've kind of invited it; the shops are full of Mother's Day stuff and they can't be expected to take account of individual circumstances...

... but that's just what eDMs are supposed to be all about, isn't it?  The brave new world of interactive personal communication.  But it's no use pretending you're someone's friend when you can't even be accurate about their closest relatives.  Only Interflora really dealt with this issue in an upfront and pro-active manner, their email clearly stating: 'At Interflora we understand that Mother's Day can be an emotional time for many people.  If you'd rather not receive any further Interflora Mother's Day communications please click the link below.'

A half-bouquet to Interflora.