Get your mom a vacuum for Mother's Day! ... I'm serious!

            I want to talk about a product that I honestly think is the best thing invented since the dishwasher. And, I figured it’s the perfect time to talk about it since Mother’s Day is around the corner. It’s the iRobot Roomba cleaning vacuum. Now, before you all stare at your computer screens, mobile devices or wherever you’re reading this from with a stank face…just hear me out. I got this as a gift from my mother-in-law not too long ago... and believe me when I tell you: it made my life so much easier!

 This thing will help you tremendously around the house. It’s like your own little house keeper. It cleans your floors—hardwood, tile and carpet—so well that you can actually see all of the dirt that it picks up. When I first started using it, I almost went into depression seeing all the dirt that the vacuum picked up. Here I am, thinking I’m doing a great job keeping my house clean, and then this robot comes into my life and makes me question everything.

But, seriously, this thing is amazing, and truly a time saving machine. I leave it on charge whenever it is not in use, and clean it once a week. I make sure the filter is cleared from compiled dust, and I clean out the bottom brush from any hair or string the vacuum may have picked up. Once I’m ready to use it, I move out of the way any cords that are on the floor (i.e. phone charger, laptop charger) and I put away some of my daughter’s things (i.e. entertainer, playpen, high chair). Then, I just turn on the clean button, and watch it go. It senses when there isn’t any more floor to clean so that it doesn’t fall down any stairs. It will clean the entire area that you want, including corners. I have a colonial, so I use it mainly in my middle floor where my living room is, and in my bedroom because those are the two places we spend most of our time. What’s nice about it in my bedroom is that it goes underneath my bed! And, if you think it’s not doing a good job, trust me… just look at the filter… you will be shocked!!

When I was doing my student teaching, I was out of the house most of the day … and when I came back home, the last thing I wanted to do was swiffer or vacuum my floors. Having this vacuum was amazing and would benefit any home. I would set the timer on it every day to run at a certain time and when I came back home from work I felt like someone had cleaned for me. Now, here’s the catch: it is a little pricey, but trust me…it’s worth every penny. It’s a great gift because it’s not a vacuum that you have to push around or do any work with…you just simply turn it on and let it go! I've had it for two years and it comes with plenty of replacement filters, and other parts to keep it working like new.

Original price is around $375, but if you keep a close eye on it you can find it for a little over $250 at places like Costco or Sam’s Club. Kohls.com right now has it the cheapest for Mother’s Day. If you make an online account, you can add two different promo codes (204friends and momsday10) and you get a $50 mail-in rebate. The one I have is the iRobot Roomba 650 Vacuum Cleaning robot. This is the one time a vacuum as a gift won’t upset you, I promise! 

Now if only they come up with something that folds laundry...