The Perfect Baby Gift

Baby mania! I guess it's that time when everyone we know is having babies. As they say, when it rains it pours.

I was in a bind last week feeling behind and like a bad friend because a few friends recently announced they were pregnant or have recently given birth and I'm behind in my gifts, card and general loving-up on people that I so love to do.

My usual go-to for gifts is a donation to a charity. I have frequently done this for newborns and called it "their first donation" which I think is just the cutest thing. But this time around I wanted to give something that the family could use - baby, mom and dad. However, me being me, I also wanted it to be a gift that would be from a company that was sustainable and had the same values as me - good for the environment, quality products and good web design and user experience.

Honestly, if all of the companies in the world has those three things I think we could solve half of the world's problems.

I had heard of The Honest Company but had never really been on their site before. I don't have kids and I think I thought the site was all about babies. Jessica Alba is a cool mom, but I'm not swayed from celebrity involvement (big or small) so this wasn't really a big push for me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's so much more than just baby stuff. They have home cleaning supplies, gifts for babies, kids, families, monthly subscriptions, diaper cakes (one of my all-time faves) and just a plethora of things to chose from.

Plus they have a strong social good mission and an interactive timeline to show how they are involved in their local community as well as their global footprint. Score!

The only downside I saw is that a lot of the cute things on their site were shown as sold out. One or two things ok, but most of what I thought of as cute gifts weren't currently available. But all of the basics are available and that is what matters.

I clicked around on the site and thought, "Who am I to know what my friends need most?" At the end, I went for gift cards. 6 of them! Hey when I see something I like I don't mess around.

I chose the mail option, in part because I continue to root for the postal service (come on old gal you can do it!) and also because I think a gift card in the mail is a more thoughtful gift than an email. I know it's energy/resources to produce the card and mail it but forgive me this transgression in the spirit of gift-giving. I started receiving "thank you" texts/calls/emails from friends two days later. That's a uber-fast turn around!

If you haven't joined The Honest Company, I highly recommend giving them a try.