May 11th, 2010
The Perfect Mother’s Day Present (for me.)
My kitchen is tiny; nice, but tiny. It’s a pretty space, with high end cabinets and granite counter tops (thanks Landlord.) But the small room, non-existent counter space, and very limited storage drives me totally bat shit crazy. Last year we removed the door that separated the kitchen from the basement – I have no idea why it was there to begin with – and tossed up an Ikea shelf to add some storage space to the room. The shelf was ill fitted to the space, and caused the garbage can to hang halfway over the door jam. Finding a place to put the recycling bin was an even bigger challenge, so I bought a laundry basket and shoved it (and I really mean shoved it) into the bottom shelf. The mess looked like this:
Considering that we go in and out of this door, both to get to the garage, and to go downstairs to the playroom, several times a day, you can see how having a garbage can in the way would be crazy-making. The food piled and shoved into containers was an even bigger eye sore. Now that I’m overhauling my entire family’s diet, I’ve been trying to stock the kitchen with all the things that a person needs to make real food. One bag of whole wheat flour really pushed our over-filled cabinets beyond the limit, and I started to feel an aneurysm coming on. I had to get more storage space, and make this wire shelf monstrosity go far, far away.
So, last week I called my dad up (a union roofer with very handy hands) and asked him if he would help me build a nice custom shelf into this space. I wanted something with plenty of shelving, that would be high enough off the ground to fit a matching recycling bin and garbage can side by side underneath it. And doors. I wanted doors. Allowing anything to sit at toddler level is just inviting trouble. Every time I went to the bathroom or got on the phone, Julesy would have pulled down everything he could reach and crushed Gorilla Munch into the floor, so doors were an absolute must.
Dad happily agreed to help me build the cabinet, and wanted to buy everything for me as a birthday/Mother’s day present. Then, he decided that instead of having us spend all the time building something, he would just purchase real cabinets that would fit the space, along with matching garbage cans to fit nicely underneath. On Mother’s Day morning, he showed up with the goods, and by the time lunch came around, I had this:
This beautiful wonder fits all the extra food I had no place to shove before. As you can see, I also got my nice matching recycling and garbage bins below – and Look! Look! They aren’t covering up the door! I added a paper towel holder to the side, which freed up even more counter space. Doesn’t the whole room just look better?
I know it seems crazy, but cabinetry is one of THE best Mother’s Day presents I’ve ever been given. After all, these cabinets aren’t really cabinets – they’re a stress reliever. Now I don’t have to fumble with a laundry basket full of recycling, or overfilled cabinets just waiting to drop a jar on my head. What my dad really gave me was piece of mind – something totally intangible – which just happened to cost him about $150 at Lowes.
What did you get for Mother’s Day? Did somebody make you feel good or ease some of your stress? I certainly hope so. We all deserve it.
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That looks great! MUCH better than your old system, for sure. What an awesome gift! I only got flowers ; )
Jill @BabyRabies´s last blog ..Well, it wasn’t a toilet snake… 
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I’ll be blunt – I have had the shittiest year imaginable. This was my first mother’s day without my mother. I went no contact with her late in December and am finally dealing with a whole lotta childhood issues. I thought they really only involved my stepfather but when the police investigated it turned out my mother was involved too. it was looking to be a glum day no matter how many happy mother’s day messages I got. I wasn’t picking up that phone myself.
My partner did the most amazing thing…he remembered me telling him one of the happiest memories from my childhood, and gave me a tangible to hold onto.
My childhood imaginary friend lived in a victorian dresser, inside a little cupboard where my dad kept his socks. The dresser was destroyed years ago. My partner found me one *identical* to it and gave it to me for mother’s day. It seemed so much bigger when I was 4! It’s a lovely piece of furniture, but it’s that little cupboard that means so much to me, not the carving, not the beautiful antique silver mirror, not the big deep bottom drawers.
I can’t express how much this meant to me. All the kids were in on it. I plan on carving my friend’s name inside, along with each of my children’s imaginary friend’s names too.
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@Mudmama – that’s so awesome. What a thoughtful gift.
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What a thoughtful gift! I know how you feel. My Dad built in a desk storage area in our family room for Christmas one year. I still gaze lovingly at its lovely neatness even if the inside is crammed with crap.
I got a big shiny gas grill for Mother’s Day to replace my rust bomb. I love it!
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That looks great! I love home organization.
I actually chose my own Mother’s Day gift – a necklace that a friend made for me. I love it, and it took the pressure off my husband. Everyone wins, really.
Amber´s last blog ..Buying My Own Gifts
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That looks awesome! I bet that when you start weeding out the packages of food (that you already have) that you no longer want to eat, you’ll find yourself with a bunch more room for all the new goodness in your life.
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I was actually pretty bummed out on Mother’s Day. I ended up having to work for 6 hours, which cancelled the brunch with my mom & grandma that my husband planned on making. (I oversee group homes for the developmentally disabled and when things go wrong I have to go in.) I pouted and wallowed and felt quite sorry for myself. But then I got to work and my group home guys and gals were so happy to see me it couldn’t help but pull me out of my self misery a little bit. And when I got home my husband gave me a big hug, and when the kids got up from their naps they were wearing husband-made t-shirts that said, “I love mama!” I realized that a lot worse things can happen to a person than having to work on mother’s day – my husband saved the day with those cute shirts, his support, and by inviting mom & grandma over for dinner and ordering pizza. 
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Love it! What a practical Mother’s Day gift, and so great that it was from your dad, honoring you as a Mom and as his child!
My husband and I combined our Mother/Father’s Day gifts together and bought something we really needed- an electric, cordless lawn mower. Now, all my girlfriends think I am crazy, not wanting a day at the spa, or flowers or whatever, but really, this was what we needed and I appreciated the fact that we could discuss what we could both use that was practical— much like kitchen cabinets! (those are next on our gift lists!)
Glad you had a great Mother’s Day and Birthday week!
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My husband made me waffles for breakfast and then we had a picnic for lunch. Sounds nice, I know, but we also had a huge fight after breakfast that pretty much ruined the day. The next day my daughter brought me home from school a heart shaped pottery piece. My mom kept the dinosaur I made when I was in kindergarden for all these years and I have a feeling I will do the same with this. It’s so sweet!
Melodie´s last blog ..Inspiration Goes Both Ways
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@Melodie – I was pretty flipping annoyed at my husband that day too. He asked me what I wanted to do for Mother’s day and I told him NOTHING – I just wanted him to make us breakfast and let me relax. Instead, HE decided that we had to go to lunch, which I HATE doing these days because Julesy just cannot handle eating out, and it makes my experience miserable. He said if I agreed to eat lunch with his mom, then he’d make breakfast. Yeah, that turned into him being gone for over an hour to go across the EFFING STREET to buy donuts (cuz he also used that trip to buy flowers and cards and shit) and then I had to make the screaming children breakfast because they couldn’t wait any longer.
So yeah – he had nothing at all to do with me enjoying my mother’s day. In fact, I’d have enjoyed it more without him around.
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the company that was supposed to deliver flowers… hasn’t yet. lol at least that’s the hubby’s excuse. i’ll admit. my husband is not well versed in the ways of romance. i’ve learned this and come to accept it since otherwise i’d just be disappointed. i’d rather just love him and TELL him what to plan so i can enjoy it with him. lol
btw your cabinet looks beautiful! aren’t daddies wonderful? my father is much the same way. when i was pregnant with my second, and my FIL (who is mister know it all, admit no defeat) was STRUGGLING to finish my kitchen… AND i was 39 weeks and determined to have a finished house before i had the baby — my dad flew up and came to the rescue.
he has built my childhood house from the ground up. he’s amazing. my hero. lol
mommymichael´s last blog ..Comment Turned Post
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I love it! What a great idea for a kitchen that didn’t come with a lot of cabinet space. You are giving me ideas for my own kitchen with little cabinet and counter space (a paper towel holder not on the counter would help so much).
For my Mother’s Day present, I asked for a full day next weekend to spend setting up a desk just for ME in our guest room! I’m so excited at the prospect of spending a whole day sorting, filing and organizing.
Hubby gave me a great actual Mother’s Day, although the wonderful breakfast he made me is a little tainted by the fact that I had to do the dishes for it the next morning. Sigh…
caramama´s last blog ..May Meet Up Final Details
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My husband bought me a super nice rocking chair for my 5 months pregnant self who can no longer get on and off the couch. It’s divine.
Krissy´s last blog ..I hate this so much.
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I’ll trade you my unsigned Hallmark card for your cabinetry. Grrr. Mother’s Day gives me a headache.
tricia booker´s last blog ..Being trendy! Like the Emperor! But with rubber(s).
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My Birthday was ON Mother’s Day this year, so my husband went all out. I got personalize M&M’s with “We Love You” “Happy Mom’s Day” & a picture of my husband & son. We went out to dinner at Outback… but the true prize was my 3 – 1 hour massage package at the local spa. Between having been large chested since I was 10, pregnant & the chest already aiming to be bigger than it got while pregnant/nursing my son (which means bigger than a G is where I’m headed), & then undertaking the task of trying to learn to garden this year… well, a full body prenatal massage would have been great, but to get a package of 3… that’s just heaven.
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