May 06, 2026

May 2026: milestones, jars, and a party in the yard

May is a month of occasions. Our readers spent it photographing babies, planning what to do with a garden that has not produced anything yet, and throwing a party for a five year old who has strong opinions about a blue hedgehog.

The occasions

a baby monthly milestone set was the sweetest item of the month, bought by new parents and, in at least four cases we heard about, by grandparents who wanted the photos and were not going to be subtle about asking. These sets have become a small ritual, and the readers who used them said the same thing: do it in the same spot with the same light every month, and the sequence at the end is worth the effort.

Sonic the Hedgehog party favors rounded out the celebration side. Character party supplies are a category where our advice is simply to buy the multipack and stop optimizing. Nobody at a five year old's party has ever evaluated a party favor.

The food projects

the Mrs. Wages home canning guide was the month's most forward-looking purchase. Nobody cans in May. People read about canning in May and then can in August, which is exactly the right sequence, because home preserving is one of the few kitchen activities where following tested procedures precisely is a genuine safety matter rather than a suggestion.

Alongside it, a vacuum sealer carried over from April, bought by readers thinking about what happens when the garden produces more than the household can eat.

The yard and the garage

a heavy duty transparent waterproof tarp was the practical purchase. Clear tarps are a slightly specialist choice, used for temporary greenhouse walls, patio wind breaks, and covering things that need light while staying dry. Several readers used it to close in a porch for shoulder season.

And one for the shelf

NHL Breakaway 99 for the Nintendo 64 was the month's nostalgia purchase, and we have no notes. Retro sports games occupy a specific place in a certain generation's memory, and the reader who wrote in about it described setting it up for his own kids and watching them be politely baffled.

The shape of May

Milestones, preparation, and a party. May is a month that spends on experiences rather than on objects, and the objects it does buy are mostly in service of something happening. That is our favorite kind of list.

One safety note we will repeat because it matters. Home canning has tested procedures for a reason, and the risk with low-acid foods in particular is real rather than theoretical. Use a current tested guide, follow the processing times exactly, and do not adapt a recipe from a family memory. Everything else in the kitchen rewards improvisation. This one does not.

June should bring the usual midsummer mix, and the garden questions have already started arriving.