Not Sure if This Mother's Day Gift Is Totally Cool... Or Kind of Disgusting.

This Sunday, we celebrate the women who carried us in their wombs for nine months, pushed us out through some painful delivery procedure, and then dealt with our shit (literally and figuratively) for the next however many years. 

And we, in turn, give her flowers. Or candies. Or a spa day. Or, perhaps, this Organic Mushroom Farm.

This is what I'm thinking about getting for my mom this year. It's not too expensive -- and it ships free with Amazon Prime. 

But mostly... I think it's unique and thoughtful. My mom is an amazing cook with a huge Iowa garden. Each summer, she grows more tomatoes than she knows what to do with -- not to mention the squashes, asparagus, herbs and more. But one thing I'll bet she's never grown... is her own mushrooms. 

And. As I wrote in Money DOES Buy Happiness - If You Know How to Spend It, there are two ways to buy happiness:

1) Spending money on someone else.
2) Spending money on experiences, rather than possessions. 

Growing your own mushrooms -- and then preparing a meal with them -- is an experience. And, since this mushroom farm yields multiple crops, it's a gift that keeps on giving. Unlike a bouquet, which you throw out when it dies. 

One last thing. In Emotional Design: Why We Love (or hate) Everyday Things, Donald Norman writes:

There are three different aspects of a product were identified with different levels of processing by people: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. These three levels translate into three different kinds of design. Visceral design refers primarily to that initial impact, to its appearance. Behavioral design is about look and feel -- the total experience of using a product. And reflection is about ones thoughts afterwards, how it makes one feel, the image it portrays, the message it tells others about the owner's taste.

This mushroom farm is a gift that is high in reflective value. Everyone who comes over and sees it on the kitchen counter (or wherever you put a mushroom log) will ask what it is, where she got it, how it works, how many mushrooms it's grown, etc. And, according to Norman's research, people love that. It makes us feel clever and cool. Which basically means I'm giving the gift of cleverness and coolness. 

So that's why I want to give a fungus-infested lump of sawdust and fertilizer to my mom for Mother's Day... It's totally a good idea, right? Or is it kind of gross? Both?

Do you have cool ideas for Mother's Day gifts? Share them in the comments!