On HawaiiMoms.com, the moms trade ideas. One mom who goes by the screen name 3Papayas suggested, "I knew my husband wanted a shiny 'bling-bling' barbecue (grill), but I would not bend our budget. ... So his gift was a 'Save-for-a-BBQ kit.' In the kit I put in a coin sorter, complete with coin wrappers. All loose change went here on a daily basis. The kit also included a shoebox for stashing all $5 bills. ... A commitment from the family for all money from HI-5¢ recycling, product or store rebates also went to the cause. I topped it off with a picture of him dreaming about barbecue meals. We had a new barbecue within seven months."

Submit your mom-tested ideas on the General Parenting forum on www.HawaiiMoms.com.

ONLINE TOOL

FIND OUT HOW FAR YOU RAN

For anyone who has ever had to guesstimate how far he or she just ran, bicycled or even paddled, U.S.A. Track and Field, the nation's governing body for its sport, has the answer — an online calculation program at www.usatf.org/routes that allows you to view a satellite image of your proposed route and measure how far you'll be going.

The service, America's Running Routes, uses technology provided by Google Maps. All it takes is a few clicks along your route and the program computes the distance. There is also a database of routes all over the country; search by terrain, hotel locations, parks or trailheads.

— Mike Gordon

FINAL WORD

"He's cooler than cool when he's outside the car, but he goes crazy behind the wheel."

Emile Hirsch | star of "Speed Racer," in Entertainment Weekly