The perfect Mother’s Day gift for new moms

One new mom I know recently confessed that she couldn’t quite believe she was going to be feted this coming Mother’s Day. She said motherhood makes her feel a bit like the little girl who raids her mother’s closet and tromps around in too-big shoes. And yet, here everyone is, taking her seriously as a grownup!

Oh yeah, I’ve SO been there. (As has virtually every other first-time mom).

This motherhood thing takes some getting used to.

Which is why the Rookie Mom’s Handbook is absolutely, positively hands-down the most perfect Mother’s Day gift for a new mom. (Heck, it’s the perfect gift for any mom with little ones, whether it’s her first or eighteenth).

Written by Whitney Moss & Heather Flett, the creators of RookieMoms.com, the book features 250 activities for new moms. The activities are organized by the baby’s age, so the book sort of grows with you.

Some of their ideas are crafty, some are adventurous, and some simply help you get a meal on the table.

A sample of my (many) favorites:

#51 – Engineer a Food Train. Organize a group with three other friends. Three Thursdays a month they deliver dinner to your door. One Thursday, you deliver it to theirs.

# 110 – Act Like Julie from the Love Boat. Plan up your week and write out a schedule. Email others – be brave & email moms you don’t know that well.

#240 – Use your clutter to entertain your baby. Develop your baby’s motor skills with your clutter. Set up an obstacle course of sorts using the junk you have floating around your living room.

Each entry is short, sweet, and pithily written – ideal for the new mom whose sleep deprived brain can only handle so much.

I also love that it takes the burden of “what should I do” off of your shoulders. Addled brains need all the help they can get, after all. If you’re so inclined, you could just do an entry a day and see where it takes you.

My advice: head on over to Amazon to order a copy for the new mom in your life. Combine it with a set of “I’ll do these chores for you without asking” coupons and you’ll have one happy mama on Sunday.