Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Okay, this is sort of a last minute post, but please make note that Mother's Day is this Sunday, May 11th.

Last year we wrote a gift guide for geek moms that might provide some last-minute ideas that don't involve the jewelry store or the flower shop. Our Mother's Day Wrap-up reader comments might offer some good ideas too.

P.S. Don't forget that you can donate to great organizations like Heifer Project too! What mom doesn't want bees?

Recommended Reading: Ranger's Favorite Books

Ranger recently started to "read along" with us at storytime, and though we know it's not actual reading, it's still immensely charming to hear him chime in during favorite books.

Debra Fraisier's On the Day You Were Born: Ranger first saw this book as a Notes Alive! story concert by the Minnesota Orchestra. It's one of his very favorite books and music videos. He loves the vibrant papercut pictures and lyrical rhythms. I love hearing him say phrases like "the marvelous news migrated worldwide."

Christine Loomis' and Ora Eitan's Cowboy Bunnies: (aka "Cowbunnies" to Ranger) This nightly request begins "Cowboy bunnies/ Wake up early/ Ride their ponies/ Hurly burly" This is a great bed time story. It poetically takes the bunnies through their day of jumping gullies and mending fences to an evening hoedown. Later "Cowboy bunnies/ In pajamas/ Hug and kiss/ Their cowboy mamas." It's a nice winding down story for parent and child alike.

Scott Beck's Little House, Little Town: This simple book goes through a baby's leisurely day with his parents. The sparse text is in perfect measure while the ample illustrations tell an ongoing story of the life a town itself. We like this book because, like a stroll through a community, you can choose the pace of each reading and sometimes linger to smell the flowers and pet the dogs. We also like Beck's A Mud Pie for Mother which offers similar opportunities to immerse yourself in the pictures.

We found many of these books and authors through our awesome public library and Dolly Parton's incredible non-profit Imagination Library (sponsored locally by a hospital foundation).

What have you been reading and rereading lately?

In Case You Were Wondering What I'm Doing Tomorrow

We're planning on waking at the crack of dawn and taking a most likely dino-jammied Ranger to witness the political process in action. We want him to see that we value civic involvement (from voting to jury duty).

Hard As Nails: Reuse BPA Plastic Bottles

Plastics with BPA are tough. They're shatterproof and can withstand a lot of torment.

In the 1970s, my dad worked at stoplight manufacturer Eagle Signal. One of the salesmen there, before an appointment to sell the expensive new Lexan lenses, would place four lenses on the ground and then park his car with one tire atop each lens. It was a strong sales pitch for strength and durability.

So, as we're all clearing the BPA plastics out of our kitchens, let's not relegate this near-permanent stuff to clog the landfills before giving it a second thought.

How can we repurpose this effectively non-recyclable material to give a longer useful life without putting anyone's endocrine system in harm's way?

Here at Baby Toolkit Labs we have lots of screws loose... wait, loose scews.. and nails, and washers, and such. My dad stores all his loose fasteners in an army of glass baby food jars which he wraps with clear tape to minimize cleanup in case of breakage.

It wasn't a big leap to see those Soothies, Dr. Brown's, and Avent bottles full of small metal bits and bobs. The bottles are easy to throw in a toolkit and keep the parts in a single, easily accessed container during the job.

How else can we reuse these plastics?

We set up a BPA reuse Flickr pool (http://www.flickr.com/groups/bpa-reuse/), so please post photos of your own solutions.