Finding a suitable Mother's Day gift can prove to be quite challenging. When in doubt, I like to think of the things that I would enjoy the most. While late is the hour for getting anything 0n time for Sunday, I figured it should not stop me from sharing a few of the things that have given me pause over the last several weeks. Happy reading, Haus-mates. xx Kaelyn
Here's a bit of an odd confession: In the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, I had nearly 100 open browsers on my phone. Ninety, give or take, tabs that followed me everywhere I went—from the trails, to the beach, in the office, down the aisles of the grocery store, as I cooked dinner, to the laundry closet and finally off to bed. Wash, rinse and repeat of near daily editing and culling of this list that lived rent-free in my head for practically all of April and most of May.
Of the 90 or so browser windows, 90-ish percent were shopping carts of a few items that I felt a deserving mother (or design forward person in general) would appreciate. But why was I over-thinking it?
Certainly I could easily list ten things I would love to own without all the hoopla? It eventually dawned on me that I was grappling with a few conflicting emotions. I did not have to the budget to purchase even half of the carts I had started, no matter how deserving I felt after putting away the laundry. But more to the point--tying a day to honor mothers to consumerism felt odd, but did not erase the near 100 tabs of stuff I wanted.
At a deep psychological level, convincing young people that they will get the respect, admiration, love that they are looking for through consumerism is a manipulation of a deep human instinct to want to belong. - Helen Norberg-Hodge
This led me down a path of introspection and realizations. The first being that many truths can co-exist. You can be extraordinarily happy with your salt dough handprint ornament from your kid’s preschool.
You can be appreciative of the chaos the staff endured to accomplish this newsprint wrapped marvel. With pandemic-era virtual school meltdowns firmly in mind, you know that this seemingly simple task was upended immediately by overeager, yet inexperienced little fingers equipped with frighteningly smaller attention spans.
You could be incredibly impressed by the skill of your partner to hide the fragile artwork all the way until the big morning of Mother’s Day. It is presented, with grand flair, over a plate of food edible but noticeably cooked by hands not skilled at the task. The smiles, the love and the warmth are all genuine.
Messy kitchen to be cleaned later aside, all these efforts and many handcrafted tokens of love are sincerely appreciated. Tears well in your eyes as you realize they will only be this small for such a relatively short period of time. But, if we’re being honest, a quiet and clean house with some new (or at least new-to-you) goodies would have really made the whole day sparkle.
If over-hard eggs and some random sticky surface near the cooktop are in the cards for your Sunday, I truly believe that a gift shrouded in a little less chaos and sprinkled with a little art would be the perfect way to ensure your day is especially cheery and bright.
So, without any further pretext, here are a few of my favorite cart additions in all its random glory. I have chosen only a few of my favorites from the assorted lot. No gimmicks, no links, just pretty things to be seen (and if desired, purchased) of your own volition.
And as Mother’s Day is prefaced by both teacher appreciation and Nurse Appreciation week, perhaps throw a few items in the cart for some other notable favorites as well!
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