IF YOU GO WHAT: MAU Mother's Day Parade

WHEN: Sunday, May 11, 1 p.m.

WHERE: Boulder Public Library, 1000 Canyon Blvd., Boulder, 80302; to the Pearl Street Mall

HOW MUCH: Free

ON THE WEB: www.bouldermau.blogspot.com

The environment is ailing, there's a war raging in Iraq, and there are children living in poverty around the globe. What's a concerned mother to do? Why, strap on a pair of stilts, of course.

At least that's the thinking for Mothers Acting Up (MAU), a Boulder-based global network of "mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller." The group, which lists "Be Exuberant" as one of its guiding principles, seeks to mobilize that most primal of instincts--a mother's love--and turn it into a political force to be reckoned with. The stilts are just a unique way to bring attention to MAU's message of positive activism.

Stilts are "really the perfect metaphor for what we do," says Joellen Raderstorf, executive director and one of MAU's four founders. "Because getting up on stilts you're very visible, and this is what this is about, getting comfortable with being visible in our communities and speaking up on behalf of the world's children."

She adds, "Also, when you're on stilts, you need to keep moving forward, you really can't stop. And you have far-reaching vision, which I think is something that we really need in our leadership in the world these days, to have that far-reaching vision to see how our actions today impact our children, their children, and future generations."

Raderstorf, mother to Ben, 16, Max, 14, and 10-year-old Quinn, founded MAU in 2002 with Juliana Forbes, Erica Shafroth and Beth Osnes. The nonprofit organization has expanded across the nation and to 23 countries, uniting people behind its mission of advocating for the world's children.

MAU's biggest event is the annual Mother's Day Parade, which takes place this Sunday, May 11. The festivities kick off with stroller and wagon decorating at 11:30 a.m. at the Boulder Public Library. The parade begins at 1 p.m. and winds its way from the library to the Pearl Street Mall, where there will be cake and activities for the children. The Raging Grannies and Ancestral Voices will provide music, all in keeping with the celebratory nature of the event.

MAU is dedicated to staying upbeat and enthusiastic. "Because of the way activism usually looks, it's usually kind of negative and protesting, it's not really made for mothers," says Raderstorf.

MAU has forged "a new model for activism," she says, one that focuses on positive changes rather than lamenting the status quo. "That's why we do parades, rather than protests."

The main issues MAU focuses on are ending poverty worldwide, preserving the environment, and exposing the true impact of war on the world's children. "What it often comes down to is how we're spending our tax dollars and how we're prioritizing that," Raderstorf says. "That is the underlying piece, educating people on how we're spending our tax dollars, and that we have a say in how those tax dollars are spent."

Juliana Forbes, mother to Eliza Verena, 15, and Emmet, 13, hopes that one day lobbying will be as central to motherhood as lollipops.

"Mothers Acting Up is really an invitation and a support to include activism as kind of an essential component of mothering," she says.

"Joellen has this great story. She's bicycling along--she has three boys--and she realized, 'I'm spending all this time making organic lunches and teaching them to look both ways before they cross the street, and helping them with homework, and no time at all shaping the world that they're going to inherit.' I feel like Mothers Acting Up is an encouragement to have those bicycle moments. To go, 'Wait, this is just one part of mothering; it's one part of taking care of [your children].'"

One of Forbes' favorite Mother's Day memories is of her mother Patsy, who has since passed away, at one of the first MAU parades. "She got the microphone and she started speaking and weeping and saying how proud she was. That was a pretty great Mother's Day gift."

Raderstorf gets emotional just thinking of the support her family provides.

"That's really been a great gift to me, to see how excited my family is to support me in what some might think is craziness, to spend your Mother's Day organizing a big parade. But for them they feel really proud at the end of the day and that makes me feel proud, too. That's my best gift."

For Jen Parsons, an MAU member for the past two years and mother to Harley and Sedona, both under four, the perfect Mother's Day gift would be "big hugs and kisses." She also hopes for a "peaceful, safe place for them to live out their dreams. Healthy, and the environment's clean, and we're not at war with anybody."

Until that time, there are still the traditional Mother's Day gifts to consider. MAU is sponsoring a "girlcott" at Momentum, 1625 Pearl Street, on Friday, May 9 from 5 to 7 p.m. with fair-trade alternatives, and will also have a table at the Farmer's Market on Saturday and fair-trade flowers available at Sunday's parade. Ten percent of the girlcott proceeds will benefit MAU.

"That's a term we've created," Raderstorf says. "It's the opposite of a boycott; it's going toward the positive. So we're spending our dollars on products at businesses that support our values."

Fair trade is critical for helping communities--and children--thrive. "When you purchase fair-trade products," says Raderstorf, "you know that the farmer who grew the coffee or the cocoa farmer was paid a fair wage in his or her community, and what that often creates is a sustainable lifestyle. Children can go to school when they weren't able to go to school previously. So that's a really easy, direct way to know that your actions are benefiting the world's children."