The I-don’t-know-where-it-goes drawer

This conversation took place minutes ago in my kitchen between my six year old and me…

Charlie: Have you seen the basement?

Me: Which basement?

Charlie: Our basement.

Me: Well, yes.

Charlie: Did you see what a good job I did cleaning it up?

Me: (clueing in) I did. Nice work on that.

Charlie: I didn’t clean up the Polly Pockets. We don’t have an I-don’t-know-where-it-goes drawer in the basement.

Me: I’m sorry, a what?

Charlie: An I-don’t-know-where-it-goes drawer, like the one I have in my room.

Me: You have an I-don’t-know-where-it-goes drawer in your room?

Charlie: Yeah, you know, the one with all the stuff spilling out of it.

As it happens, I do know this drawer. It’s actually a bin, and I must contend with this bin every time we can’t find Anakin’s tiny light sabre, or the Lego knight’s sword. It’s also home to the marbles from Hungry Hippos, the Playmobil horse hay bales, connect 4 pieces and small bits of string. I just didn’t know it had a name.

Besides the fact that we obviously need some better organizational systems in our house (I’ll get that done in my spare time), it occurs to me that the I-don’t-know-where-it-goes drawer just might be a metaphor for the differences in which the males and females in my house go through their days.

For you gals, can you imagine, metaphorically, an I-don’t-know-where-it-goes spot in your brain? It would go something like this, ‘That mom in the playground just made a very snide remark about what I put in my kid’s lunch. Why would she do that? Oh, well – I don’t know where to put that… moving on.’ Or, ‘I found my coworker measuring my office dimensions…I don’t know where to put that – must be no big deal.’ Of course not! No, we stress, we obsess, we call our best friends and discuss. The problem is that most of us are incapable of boxing up and shelving both the big and small stuff.

Men, I think, have a different deal – much like that of my little guy. For example, my husband has a job that involves taking big risks. Sometimes he wins and sometimes he loses. If he feels stress about this I’m pretty sure he puts it into his very own I-don’t-know-where-it-goes drawer. In fact, I’m pretty sure lots of stuff goes into that drawer for him. I have no judgment about this - we’re just different that way. Actually, if I’m being honest, I’d admit that I’m actually very jealous of the I-don’t-know-where-it-goes drawer. It sounds downright relaxing to store things away without delving into the deeper meaning. To put something away without thinking about where it really goes.

Maybe the guys are on to something here. In fact, I’m going to take a page out of their books and leave this stream of thought right here – exactly where I-don’t-know-where-it-goes.

In my spare time

You know that scene you see in movies and tv shows – the one where the protagonist is sleeping soundly in her bed when suddenly her eyes spring wide open (roll opening credits…). This was me this morning. At 3:55 a.m. It was the beginning of another day in the life of a mompreneur.

Now I’m a terrible sleeper – have been for years. No amount of stress could derail either my husband or my business partner from their sacred shut-eye. But I’ve been known to literally lose sleep when too much is going on in my days. Moms in general and moms with jobs (other than the full time one where they raise their kids) in particular are multi-tasking superstars. We’ve checked in with several hundred mompreneurs over the past year, and many of them tell us that even they can’t believe just how much they can accomplish in a day.

If Amy or I want to get a laugh out of the other one (or any mompreneur we know), we simply add the phrase, ‘in your spare time’ to the end of the sentence. Something like, “Could you just cut out an extra 100 pieces of fleece dino appliqué, in your spare time?” – gets a chuckle every time. Any mom knows that life is filled with minutiae – endless forms for school, lessons to register for, groceries, meals, laundry. But then throw in the minutiae of running a small business – endless forms for everything, customer inquiries, supplier issues, etc. - it can require a whole lot of mental space.

I’ve long believed that I can deal with my kids and my business – but if you throw anything into the mix I may crack. This weekend it’s my daughter’s 5th birthday party (loot bags, a cake, activities for sugar-hyped 5 year olds, etc.) – followed by cupcakes at school on the actual birthday, not to mention the nagging Christmas list and the cooking and baking that this time of year brings. Believe me, I wouldn’t trade one bit of it – not anything. But I wouldn’t mind sleeping either!

So what’s a busy mompreneur to do? Heck, if you’ve got some suggestions for sustaining sleep when the to-do list becomes unmanageable then please send them on! In the meantime, I’m thinking about developing some kind of sleep aid for crazed mompreneurs – in my spare time, that is.

Admiral Road is All Around

There's lots of fun stuff going on this week:

At Admiral Road, it's the most wonderful time of year. This holiday season, we're giving back. Use the coupon code HOLIDAY09 for $7 off your Admiral Road order at check out. It's valid until December 6.

We're also an Editor's Pick at Glow magazine. You can see our owl baby blanket featured here.

To top it off, the team at SavvyMom chose our Treasure Tees as their Pick of the Week. Thank you, ladies. We think you've made a savvy choice.

Today also begins our appearance at Art Market in Calgary. If you're in the neighbourhood, drop by Booth 524 to say, 'Hi.' Our friends at Mally Designs and Bugalug are Stonz are there too.

Admiral Road will not be exhibiting at the One of a Kind Show in Toronto this year. We'll miss connecting with the many customers who come by to see us. Please stay in touch. We're just a phone call or email away. And if you're wondering how late you can leave your holiday orders, you've got plenty of time. Just click here for our holiday delivery info.

Wishing you Fleece on Earth this holiday season.

Amy & Danielle

Reaching out from the basement

For many of the mom entrepreneurs we know, we’re heading into show season. There are baby shows and children’s shows, not to mention the craft shows that define our lives each fall. On the downside, there’s a whole lot of schlepping involved, not to mention long hours on your feet and juggling childcare. But there’s a silver lining to show season as well, and not just the sales and contacts – there’s the meeting of the mom entrepreneurs.

Over the years we’ve been lucky to meet up with amazing women running fabulous companies. But since Amy and I each get to work with our best friend, we’ve found that we can get a bit insular. We can get so caught up in the minutiae of our joint business and home lives that sometimes we forget to reach out to other business moms. Of course we know how important networking is, but it can definitely be put aside in favour of more pressing ‘To Dos.' Sure, we love to talk to our entrepreneurial friends about business. Anyone who owns their own business can relate to the trials and tribulations. But only a mom entrepreneur really understands what our lives look like.

After years in the basement alone or in the company of each other, it was a (delightful) shock to the system when earlier this year we went out chatted with a whole bunch of mom entrepreneurs. Over the course of a couple of months we met with women we knew well, and women we knew of but didn’t really know. Since time was of the essence we split up for the majority of these coffee dates. To a person, each of the women we met with brought up some interesting perspective we’d never thought of. They also shared their amazing stories as well as tips for juggling business and family. The mom entrepreneurs were friendly, helpful and wise. At the end of it, we felt that we’d made some amazing connections and were only disappointed that we hadn’t each been able to connect with everyone!

We learned a lot from the experience of getting out in the world and connecting. And I’m not talking just about what the mom entrepreneurs had to say. We were reminded how essential networking is – for our business and for ourselves.

The path of the mom entrepreneur can be a lonely one – but there are tons of amazing women at the other end of the phone or across the table at Starbucks. We try harder now to reach out and to stay in touch. It’s important and it’s fun.

So, to our mom entrepreneur friends – if we miss you over the next few busy months – let’s make a date soon for a coffee and a chat!

Better late than never

I took a marketing class in business school where I learned that people behave differently when presented with new technologies. According to the Innovation Curve, the population can be divided into five groups: A very few people are innovators – they lead the charge when it comes to change. Then there are the early adopters – they love to try new things. Most people fall into the early majority and late majority categories: These guys aren’t the quickest ones off the blocks, but they’ll dive in if everyone else does too. Finally, there are the laggards – those of us that have a hard time with change altogether.

My father is a classic “early adopter.” He reads Consumers Report like the Bible and loves knowing about the latest and greatest in technology. We were the first ones on the street to own a VCR. (It was the size of a suitcase.) We also enjoyed a very early Apple home computer on which my brother and I spent many happy hours playing Space Invaders and Pong.

Danielle and I freely admit we are not early adopters of technology. Laptops came into our lives only recently. We don’t necessarily embrace change. I am the last person I know to get a DVD player. (I raced out to buy one only when my husband took my children away for the weekend and I had three whole days to myself.)

Although it is late in the game, Danielle and I recently decided that we’d like to have BlackBerrys. It seemed like a good way to make juggling work and family a little easier. And lots of mom entrepreneurs swear by them.

I looked up and realized that I spend a decent amount of time waiting around: Waiting to pick up the kids at school, waiting for the dentist, waiting poolside while the kids are taking swim lessons. I thought that it might make sense to take care of correspondence in these stolen moments, rather than to sit down at my desk at the end of the day to deal with a mountain of work.

I have no intention of sleeping with my BlackBerry under my pillow and I sincerely believe that I’ve got the willpower to fight its addictive qualities.

But it’s red and it’s cute, and even for a laggard like me, I’m happy to accept that it’s in my life.

Now I just have to figure out how to work the darn thing.

Sweet new beginnings

Last month my family celebrated the new year. It’s always made sense to me to celebrate the new year in September. Doesn’t it seem like that’s when the year starts? Back to school, back to business, back to life.

As a part of our New Year celebrations we dipped apples in honey to symbolize a sweet year ahead. And just like the January 1st New Year, September gives me pause to think about how to make my year a little sweeter.

A new year reminds me that I have everything I want and need – how lucky is that? And it makes me think about the people who don’t even come close to being able to make that claim. It occurs to me that what I could use a little of in my life is a little more giving back. I blogged not too long ago about how I wish I had time to give blood (and I do, and I will) – but maybe it’s more about wishing to just give in general.

Then I came across this web site http://www.charitywater.org. If you’re not familiar with Charity: Water, the story is that a 30-year-old in New York decided that he had some giving back to do, and started an organization to provide clean drinking water to the one billion people on this planet who don’t have it. In just three years, Scott Harrison and his team have provided clean water to 700,000 people. Wow. Not only does this story inspire me, but it makes me feel like I’ve got some work to do…

I showed the trailer from Charity: Water to my four-year-old daughter this morning and explained that kids around the world don’t have clean water to drink. She immediately said, ‘How can we help?’ She was so excited about it that she ran to find her brother and explain the problem to him. It reminds me that the spirit of giving back is contagious. So this year I’m resolving to give more of myself in the coming year, for lots of reasons, not the least of which is to be an example to my very fortunate children.

How sweet is that?

Snuggle Season

Well, it’s officially ‘that time of year.’ At Admiral Road, ‘that time of year’ is Snuggle Season. We LOVE Snuggle Season. The leaves are changing, the temperature is dropping and people are turning their thoughts to keeping cozy.

Snuggle season is when we hear from our favourite customers. And it’s when we get to meet lots of new customers too.

But snuggle season also hectic! We’ve got lots of shows on the calendar and new products on the site. Plus, we’ve got to get our kids to their swimming, gymnastics, karate, piano and dance classes. Whew!

We’ve got two great shows on this weekend. Please stop by to say ‘Hi’ at the Heart of Country Show in Richmond Hill.

We’re also excited to be at the Shop Til You Drop sale on Sunday.

One of the most fun things at Admiral Road right now is the response we’re getting to our new line of Treasure Tees. We’re having trouble keeping them in stock – so if you see us at a show this weekend, make sure to snap one up. They’re sure to keep your little ones cozy during Snuggle Season.

Changing Weather

It's gotten cold where we live. The winter jackets and even hats, scarves and mittens have come out. But as sad as we are to see the leaves fall, we're always happy to ring in snuggle season!

Here at Admiral Road we're busy working on Holiday orders already, not to mention keeping our heads about us as our cozy blankets, adorable scarves and amazing Treasure Tees are flying out the door. If you haven't seen them, be sure and check out our 12 amazing scarf styles - there is something for everyone on your list, and at only $12, the price is right! We've added two great new Treasure Tees to our collection too - our Space Tee features a funny toy alien (they're all different) in an extra terrestrial setting, while our Farm Tee has a lovely pony toy on a beautiful farm. All of our Treasure Tees are just $20 (they're going fast - so grab one now).

Finally, because we want to blanket everyone you love this season, we're offering $5 off your next blanket order between now and Nov. 6th. Just enter the code ARDFALL09 at check out on our web site.

Give Fleece a Chance!

Sorry, I've got to run

I used to be a runner.

When I was in my twenties, my mother inspired me to run. Although she had never been fit, she trained hard and then ran the New York City Marathon at age 51. She and I went on to run countless road races together from 5ks to marathons. We talked while we trained together. We had a blast when we travelled to races together. And it turns out she was a great racer! Uncovering a hidden talent, she consistently won her age category in all the races she entered. It was truly inspirational.

And then she died.

That was it for me. I hung up my running shoes – for good, I thought. The idea of training by myself was too painful. It wasn’t joyful anymore. I wasn’t interested. And then life happened: work, pregnancy, nursing, repeat. For several years it didn’t even feel like my body belonged to me. It was on loan.

One year ago Danielle and I travelled to a trade show in Las Vegas. We had been eyeing that show for years, but last year was the first time that it was feasible for us and our families. I think it was also the first time that I starting feeling like my body belonged to me again. Having forgotten my cross-trainers at home (Freudian?), I popped into a mall and picked up my first pair of running shoes in a decade. While Danielle was working at the trade show, I went back to the hotel gym and climbed on the treadmill. Listening to tunes on Danielle’s borrowed iPod, I rocked out on my run and it was great. In a hotel, in Las Vegas, by myself. (For a busy mom entrepreneur, it’s the stuff dreams are made of.)

I’ve kept up the running ever since. This spring I ran my first, post-babies 10k. This summer I ran a 10-miler. And this past weekend I accomplished my goal for the season: I completed a half-marathon. It wasn’t the fastest time I’ve ever run – there is room for improvement. And I had to choke back the tears at the start line when I looked over and found that my mom wasn’t there. But I did it, and running still feels great.

I miss my mom more than I can say. It’s been eight years, but sometimes I still can’t believe that she’s actually not here. I lose my breath when I think about the fact that she never met my children. But I also think that it might be time for me to run again.

Social media at work? We encourage it.

I was recently chatting with several older women when I mentioned that part of my job is "social media marketing." Not surprisingly, they didn't know what that meant. They wouldn't be the first ones. A year ago, neither did I.

I've been personally Facebooking, blogging, and social networking for several years. But it wasn't until last fall that we first ventured into the world of social media as a business.

The first step was a Facebook group. At that point there were all sorts of businesses with "profiles," many with group pages, and a few with fan pages. With our group we posted relevant news, links to articles, and photos of little ones. We also had our first ever giveaway where several dozen customers got to take home sample blankets for little ones in their lives absolutely free! Needless to say it was a big hit. We loved being able to do something fun, and good for our customers. Not to mention we found homes for blankets that otherwise might have gone in the trash. However, we still weren't really connecting with people because there was little room for interaction, only promotion.

After the winter holidays last year, we threw our hats into the blogging ring. Our blog, Blanket Statements, was our chance to share our experiences with life, families, and running a blanket business. It also brought us into a whole new world. Blogging allows people all over the world to form communities with people they've never met. Many women use it as a way to get and give advice on families and children, share stories, and connect about personal triumphs and tragedies. At Admiral Road we share stories about funny things the kids say, business experiences, or new name trends.

After a while we saw that the Facebook group was being replaced by the "Fan Page." We were hesitant to make the switch because we already had several hundred group members and the thought of asking them to switch was painful. But we realized that the group was not working for us, or for our customers as we had hoped, and we made the big jump to the page. As it turns out, it was hugely successful. All of a sudden we were hearing from our customers instead of just posting things for them to read about us. And it is so much more convenient as you no longer have to search for the group and remember to check for updates - important updates about sales and coupons go right to fans' newsfeeds.

Finally there was Twitter. I admit, none of us knew how to use it. I cringed when I had to use the verb "tweet" in a business meeting, and we agonized over early posts to make sure we were "doing it right." I was the biggest resistor, mostly because I didn't think we had time to maintain another social media site and still actually run as business. I also couldn't stand the idea of being 24 and having aging U.S. Congressmen understand a new technology better than I did. But Twitter is where the conversation is really at. We discovered interesting people to follow, business contacts to network with, and funny stories that everyday people were sharing.

People knew early on that social media was a revolutionary way to connect with customers on a different level, but it wasn't clear how it was going to work. It wasn't because we didn't know how to use the technology, it was that the technology didn't know how it wanted to be used yet. Facebook wasn't started as a business tool. It was created for elite American college students to presumably network with more elite college students. Blogging has been around for years, but for most of those years it was exclusively a tool for self-expression. These platforms have evolved into what they are today - impossible to ignore pieces of our everyday lives. And with that comes business. But this is a new kind of business where relationships are built, customers get a say, and companies stand behind what they sell. After all, their face is all over it.

So join us in the social media world. Today, October 1, we will be getting the fall season off to a great start with a fabulous giveaway. Follow us on Twitter to find out how you can win.

Admiral Road has been making personalized blankets since 2002.

In Praise of the Buddy System

They said not to do it. They swore we shouldn’t do it. And if they didn’t say it out loud, we’re pretty sure they were thinking it.

They told us not to go into business with our best friend. We were courting disaster, risking it all, and generally making a gigantic mistake. Was I scared? Well, a little – but not really. I knew it would work.

Believe me, I can see how going into biz with your buddy could be disastrous. When you work with someone you care about and have history with, it can be harder to broach difficult issues, and sometimes the friendship can get in the way of the work. You can hesitate to get into the tough stuff because you’re worried about hurting your friend, and you can take work conflicts personally. (It can also be hard to settle down to work when there is so much to catch up on in your lives!)

It’s funny though – no one talks about the enormous upside of being best friends in business. There’s the fact that I 100% trust my business partner – with every single aspect of the business. We’ve been able to have babies and take vacations without worrying what’s going on at the office. We’ve also each had the support of someone who cares about us when times have been tough either at work or at home. We’ve been able to support each other’s goals, both personal and professional. We’ve raised our families together and created a gaggle of kids who are madly in love with their ‘cousins.’ We really listen to each other, whether it’s a work or a personal issue.

But here’s the biggest benefit, and no one ever talks about this one: We’ve had a blast. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be on the mom entrepreneur rollercoaster ride with than my best friend. We’ve enjoyed our business because we’ve done it together. I don’t think either of us would have lasted 7.5 years (and counting) on our own. We’ve celebrated our accomplishments together and commiserated when things haven’t gone as planned. We laugh. Every single day.

Should you go into business with your best friend? Well, conventional wisdom says you shouldn’t – but these best friends in business are flouting that wisdom, so why can’t you?

Companies We Love

This week's featured company makes its products in Canada, just like we do at Admiral Road. If you know of other great small businesses, let us know! We’d love to hear about them.

Company Name: Mally Designs

Company Web Site: mallybibs.com

Owners: Ron and Nicole Garza

What they do: Make beautiful bibs out of leather. They’re durable, easy to clean and stain resistant.

Why we love 'em: Because their products are beautifully designed and of the highest quality. And they’re made in Canada! This company has achieved so much in a short time – Mally Bibs are everywhere! Their success is truly inspirational.

What you can get: Their new pocket peeker designs – so cute. You can also keep your eye out for Mally Bibs on sale.

How to choose?

There are many reasons babies get the names they do. My first name, Mary, is from my Grandmother, and my middle name, Elizabeth, seems to be inspired by a variety of sources - my favourite being the street I was born on (though my father denies it). At Admiral Road, we see all sorts of unique names and name trends. This gives rise to one of my favourite things to do: Guess the trend.

While I can never be sure why anyone has chosen a name for their child, it seems reasonable that a sudden rise in a previously almost non-existent name has probably been inspired by some outside source – like a TV show. Case in point – Addison. Surely this girls’ name gained its massive popularity from the character on Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice. And Cohen, a traditional Jewish last name, shows up almost weekly. I’m convinced this is after the character on the now off-the-air TV show, The O.C.

And then there are the perfectly nice names that you think would catch on, but don’t. Take Meredith from Grey’s Anatomy, or Marissa from The O.C. Who is to say why some things enter the collective sub-conscious while others remain on the sidelines?

Other celeb inspired trends: Lexie and George (Grey’s Anatomy), Ainsley (The West Wing), Sawyer (Lost), Blake (actress from Gossip Girl), Dexter (Dexter), and Danica (Indy driver/pin-up girl Danica Patrick). But my absolute favourites are twins Max and Ruby, and Will and Grace.

How did you choose your kid’s name?

Admiral Road has been making personalized blankets since 2002.

Back to School Blues

I can’t believe it. I can taste the beginning of school and somehow I’m not excited about it – I’m actually feeling something akin to dread. Any self-respecting mompreneur should be jumping up and down at the prospect of having kids out of the house. It’s an opportunity for structured, guilt-free work time. So what gives?

I was discussing this dread with Amy the other day and ended up articulating the problem. In my opinion, moving small kids through the daily routine is roughly equivalent in effort to pushing a grand piano through a tight doorway every single day. For the next 10 months.

There is the kid who just can’t put those shoes on until I’m apoplectic. Then there’s the little one still in kindergarten, which requires an afternoon program a few days a week, which requires multiple pick up times and locations. There’s the anxiety about how the shoeless one is going to settle into full-day school and how the kindergartener will like her new teacher. In short, I’m a bit stressed out!

Fear not, I’m doing my utmost to hide these feelings from my kids and am hoping that it’s not seeping through the cracks. The kids have had a structured summer, so school shouldn’t be a huge shock to their systems. The thing is, I can hear them right now playing beautifully together – relaxed and happy. In exactly 5 days at this moment I’ll be begging for the shoes to be put on and wondering if I have everything. Not quite the same..

I’m going to do my utmost to enjoy the last few unstructured days. And then I’m going to have to make peace with that piano.

Sister Sister

If you’ve read our blog before, you’ll know that I’m apt to fret about the future of our youth. Well, the youth that live in my house, anyway.

When I was pregnant with my firstborn, we didn’t find out who was in there because we wanted a surprise delivery. Our daughter was born and we were thrilled. When I got pregnant again, I wanted to find out the baby’s gender. (My husband didn’t – but since I was carrying the darn baby, I figured I had veto power.) Of course I didn’t care who was in there, but I wanted to prepare myself if I was to have another girl.

Having grown up with one brother myself, my childhood home was fairly harmonious. We were – and still are – very different, so there was little competition between us growing up. I feared having a second girl because of my perceptions about sisters. I was terrified of them. The brother-sister relationship seemed so easy. There were so many ways to encourage different interests. And the brother-brother relationship? Well I just figured they’d whack each other to resolve their differences. But the sister-sister relationship seemed to be the most fraught of all. Sisters can be best friends and worst enemies all in the same relationship. There’s so much angst. And girls can be SO MEAN to each other!

Of course I was destined to have a second daughter. And then a third.

But then a really good thing happened to us this weekend. We reconnected with some cousins who we don’t see often and don’t know very well. They are raising sisters. They have an 11-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old daughter. And these kids blew me away. They were SO NICE! They were kind and authentic and well-mannered and charming. And they were delighted to play with my children! (My three girls swimming away while my husband and I sat poolside? My idea of paradise!) Sure those adolescent girls sleep ‘til noon – but as far as I can tell, that’s a break from the 6:30 a.m. wake-up call we have going on around here. These girls gave me hope that it’s possible to raise great kids and happy sisters.

Plus, I think I may have scored myself two future babysitters.

Mompreneur ROI

As we work through our writing project about mom entrepreneurship I found myself thinking about ROI – or return on investment – the other day. There’s an ugly looking formula to figure out your ROI – I’ll include it here just to amuse ourselves:

Despite the fact that I made it through business school I’m not what you would call a quant jock – so anytime a formula is involved I start to feel a little unwell. But in our business we do measure and consider whether the things we spend money on generate returns.

We’re not sure that all small business people think about what their returns are. At a recent show we were next to a woman who did the most beautiful quilts and who lost money at a staggering rate throughout the show. We don’t blame her for that – you’ll never know how something will work out unless you try, right? But she’ll be back, and that’s the problem. She comes back every year. And she’s not the only one. So if we're talking about issues in starting a business we want to raise the issue of considering returns.

The thing is though that we’re talking about mompreneurs here – not your average Joe or Jo-Anne Entrepreneur. Many of us start our businesses looking not only for money, but for family time and balance as well. The returns may be different for us.

Here are some of the profits and (losses) in my daily mompreneur experience.

Yesterday I picked up my kids from the camp bus and walked them home. I sat with them while they had a popsicle and heard about their day.

(Later I shushed my son and visibly hurt his feelings when he tried to tell me something while I was on the phone for a work call.)

I’m taking a few days off next week to go camping with my husband and kids. And I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission.

(I’ll be a little stressed out about how far behind I am when I get back. I’ll disappear and leave the kids to their dad so I can catch up when we return.)

I have breakfast with my kids every day.

(My laptop is on the kitchen table sometimes.)

I get to decide when I work and where, and I love that freedom.

(I sometimes miss the companionship of a busy office. And I wouldn’t mind making more money either!)

I haven’t ‘missed’ anything as my kids have been small. I’ve felt every new tooth come in, seen them roll, crawl, walk and speak for the first time. I’ve soothed hurt feelings and kissed owies better.

(I’m not always as present with my kids as I’d like to be.)

So what’s the ROI on my mompreneur experience? Well, I’ve invested the last 7 years of my life (and counting), I’ve forgone both a lucrative career in the corporate world as well as being a full-time mum. But even though there’s a ‘loss’ for every ‘profit’ I’m still definitely ahead. I choose the positives even knowing that there are negatives and I know that the gains are worth more to me than the losses.

Maybe it’s time we wrote a new formula.

Things I'm too old to do

My fortieth birthday is around the corner. Well, not around the next corner. But it’s around the one after that. In recent months Danielle and I have been talking a lot about things that we’re too old to do. It started late last year when we had an important business meeting. We’ve been off the corporate path for a while now, and since we’ve popped out five babies between us in the past six years, our business wardrobes are non-existent. Jeans and t-shirts are pretty strict uniforms around here, and neither one of us has a decent suit in the closet. When we asked someone’s advice, she suggested that the company we were meeting was pretty formal. So what’s a girl to do?

Rather than getting all wound up about what to wear, we put on our (best) jeans and headed to the meeting. We decided that we were too old to run around to buy an outfit just for this occasion. After all, we were representing ourselves – and jeans are where we’re at right now. (The meeting went very well, by the way.)

Since we first started talking about this, I’ve added other things to my list. According to me, I am now too old to:

- Wear a crop top. Or a mini-skirt;

- Drink so much that I’m incapacitated the next day and unable to care for my children;

- Fight with my friends;

- Help anyone move. (This applies to anyone over the age of 30 – not just me. When your 20s are behind you, you are too old to “pay” your friends with pizza and beer for helping you move. You should outsource this task to professionals.)

As I age, some things just aren’t the same, but there have been some improvements too. You get to know yourself better. You know what works and doesn’t work in your life. You get better at saying, “No.” But here’s the problem: Now there are a bunch of things that I’m definitely old enough to handle, but just don’t want to. Like the rodent who briefly took up residence under my kitchen sink. (Disgusting. Disastrous. Needed the husband to deal with it.) Or the rain in my bedroom as a result of a recent thunderstorm. (Still begging the roofer to come by and patch the hole.) Or the baby puke on my sweater that now needs to be dry-cleaned. (Well, that’s just part and parcel of the many thankless tasks of motherhood.)

Look out 40 – I’m coming! Here’s hoping for just the right balance of the things I’m too old to do and the things I’m now ready to handle.

And the Winner Is....

Congratulations to Alexandra Macqueen! She is the winner of our summer contest. Alexandra has won an Admiral Road Camp Blanket AND a Mabel's Labels Camp/School Pack!

Here's what Alexandra had to say about Admiral Road and Mabel's Labels:

"Oh, these blankets look fantastic! I am already a huge fan of Mabel’s Labels; I am sure my kids would be ecstatic to get their own blankets - especially as they have relatively unusual names!!"

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest and left us such great comments! We love to hear from you!

Be sure to check our Mabel's Labels for all your labelling needs

Mompreneurs past, present and fictional

We’re thinking about mom entrepreneurs a lot these days as we are knee-deep in a writing project on the subject. Nowadays it seems like the term mompreneur or mom entrepreneur is everywhere – but our generation certainly didn’t invent the concept. My grandmother ran a hotel while my dad and uncles tore the place apart. Amy’s grandmother ran a grocery store in the Ottawa market with four kids underfoot. Mompreneurs have been around forever and exist in all facets of life. Here is a list of some notable mompreneurs of the big and small screen.

JC Wiatt (Diane Keaton) – Baby Boom: Didn’t you love this movie? JC gives up her fancy job and huge shoulder pads for a money-pit of a house in Vermont and full-time mommyhood when she ‘inherits’ a baby girl. But she takes life’s lemons (apples) and makes lemonade (applesauce). Not only does she get the hunky town vet, but she also gets revenge on her former corporate colleagues. A mompreneur must see!

Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter Birney) – Family Ties: Oh Elyse – the mother we all wanted. She could draw up plans for a new house while strumming Dylan tunes on the guitar and imparting life lessons to her kids. And she did it all with never a hair out of place – a true mompreneur indeed!

Angela Bower (Judith Light) – Who’s the Boss: She gets the career and the hunky housekeeper. What else is there to say? (And don’t you dare judge me for calling Tony Danza a hunk, you were totally crushing on him in the 90’s too!)

Kate McCardle (Susan Saint James) & Allie Lowell (Jane Curtain) – Kate & Allie: These quick-witted mompreneurs not only worked together, but they also lived together and raised their children Emma, Chip & Jennie. It certainly couldn’t have been easy to spend all that time together, but more puzzling is how they afforded a brownstone in Greenwich Village on a start-up catering company’s earnings. Hmmm… perhaps they had the same real estate agent as the did kids on "Friends"….but I digress.

Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) – Gilmore Girls: Lorelai Gilmore, beautiful mom to beautiful Rory. She quips, she caffeinates, she runs the Dragonfly – and raises a great kid, with time for romance too. It must be all that coffee.

Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker) – Weeds: Selling dope may not be for every mom- but it pays the bills!

These are just a few famous mompreneurs. Send us your favourites!

Coming soon – mompreneurs in fiction!

Fun Stuff

I have to admit, it's pretty fun to work at a baby blanket company. We had a team meeting at my house this week which breeds a certain informality. It's that environment that allows us to laugh a lot - and this week, we spent a lot of time laughing. So it's a fitting occasion to launch our brand new Fun Stuff section. We built it for you and your little ones to enjoy, learn and just monkey around. We hope you like it.

Here's another fun thing: We're teaming up with our friends at Mabel's Labels for a Summer Contest. You can win an Admiral Road Camp Blanket and a Camp/School Combo Pack of Mabel's Labels. You can enter by leaving a comment here (be sure to include your name) or on the Mabel's Labels blog. We'll randomly select a winner on August 10th.

One last bit of fun: For a limited time, get $5 off your Admiral Road blanket purchase. Just enter ARDSUMMER09 at check out. This offer is valid until August 14.

Have fun!

The Admiral Road Team

Summer Contest

Admiral Road is teaming up with our friends at Mabel's Labels to bring you our summer contest. Here's what you can win:

An Admiral Road Personalized Camp Blanket of your choice, including shipping. Camp blankets are perfect for twin beds, bunks or the couch. Cozy and durable, our camp blankets are made to suit any member of the family.

and

A Camp/School Combo Pack of Mabel's Labels, including shipping. We don't let our kids take anything out of the house unless it's got a Mabel's label in it. Trust us, Mabel's Labels are perfect for the stuff kids lose.

Here's how to enter:

Leave a comment here (be sure to include your name) or on the Mabel's Labels blog. We'll randomly select a winner on August 10th.

Good luck!

Customers We Love

Customers We Love

Admiral Road customers come from far and wide. In this ongoing feature we will profile some of the Admiral Road "Customers We Love." Do you love us too? Let us know at info@admiralroad.com. We'd love to hear from you. Any customers featured in our blog receive a very nice coupon toward their next order.

Name: Sarita D.

Hometown: London, UK

Customer since: 2002

Became an Admiral Road fan after: she learned about the company from a friend. After sending her first blanket and getting a great reaction, Admiral Road became her new baby gift destination.

Likes Admiral Road because: "I've sent an Admiral Road blanket to every new baby I know, on both sides of the ocean. People love to receive them. My friends in the UK have been especially excited by them as there is nothing else like them over here."

War No More

Growing up, I could lend my support to the War on Drugs. This seemed intuitive to me. Too many drugs = bad.

War on fat? Check. Thanks to current information, I diligently monitor the intake of fat for myself and my family.

War on sugar? Sure – I can get behind this one too. (Anyone who’s ever been to a kid’s party has seen firsthand the impact of birthday cake on a small person.) Why wouldn’t I want to be cognizant of how much sugar the little ones are ingesting?

War on salmon? This one I had a little more trouble with. I thought that those omegas were supposed to be good for you…

War on meat? Cattle-rearing produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars?? Wait a minute – I thought that eating meat constituted part of a balanced diet.

And as of last week, Canada has declared a war on salt. I’m sorry, but I just don’t think that I’ve got this fight in me. For years, sodium has been the single aspect of the nutrition label that I have blissfully ignored. I’ve counted and compared calories, fats and sugars. But sodium? Nuh-uh. This one I’ve overlooked – until now. Now my eye goes directly to the middle of that label – shocked at how high this sodium number can climb. Now I know that I’m failing, on a daily basis, to limit my intake to the appropriate recommended amount. Sodium is added to everything – especially prepared foods.

To wage the war on salt, my newspaper nutrition columnist suggests that I cook my foods from scratch and then season them with cayenne pepper or citrus. Okay – so here’s a question, World: You want me to work to support my family, be a doting yet firm mother, a supportive and available friend and family member AND TO COOK MY FOODS FROM SCRATCH AND SEASON THEM WITH CITRUS? No, I say. I just can’t do it. I cannot juggle Admiral Road, my children's schedules, my schedule and grow my own foods too. My kids will eat Cheerios (loaded with sodium) and hot dogs (who knows what’s in those?) and as long as our blood pressure remains under control I’ll do my best to get them reared into adulthood.

I’ve fought the good fight, but I just can’t fight the war on salt. I’m saving my strength. Twelve years from now I’ll have three teenaged girls in my house and I’m going to have other battles to pick.

Pretend Mommy

I spend a lot of time with kids. I worked through university as a part-time nanny and babysitter so I have had plenty of experience with feeding and entertaining, playdates and playgrounds, school pick-ups and drop-offs, and time-outs and bedtimes. I can discuss, with a reasonable amount of accuracy, Toopy, Max and Ruby, Bob the Builder, the Backyardigans and more. So I guess it is only fitting that I am a key employee of a company run by mom-entrepreneurs that specializes in baby gifts!

This is a mom company. Throughout the day we talk about babies, families, and life. Sometimes my work day is interrupted by a 4 year old who needs help with her computer game or a sick kid home from school that brings me pictures she has drawn. Sometimes there are babies at business meetings.

I started reading “mommy blogs” and keeping up to date on the world of celebrity babies – all work related I’m quick to tell anyone who will listen. But somewhere along the way I realized I was enjoying them….and occasionally related to them. I guess I am far more entrenched in their world than I thought.

I used to think I ended up at Admiral Road by accidental networking (I babysat their kids), but the more time I spend here, I realize that there is probably a good reason that I fit in so well. In school I thought I was working towards a degree to get a job. As it turns out, sometimes knowledge of diapers and Dora can be a lot more useful if you’ve got the right audience.

Admiral Road has been making personalized blankets since 2002.

It’s not what goes wrong; it’s how you fix it

We spend lots of time thinking about small businesses – our own included. And we think a lot of about what constitutes great customer service. At Admiral Road we’ve always strived for and prided ourselves on excellent customer service. Interestingly, a few of our best customer experiences have been born out of error.

Anyone who has ever been responsible for a lot of moving parts knows that inevitably something, sometime is going to go wrong. We’re human and occasionally we make mistakes. In the event that this happens, we try our very best to do everything possible to help our customer and fix the situation. Invariably, our customers are surprised and grateful to be treated decently and fairly – a testament to the sorry state of customer service in general, I think. It seems so many companies have a ‘you’re on your own’ attitude. Who wants to be treated like that, especially when you’ve paid for a product or service? We just don’t understand it.

Every now and then, though, a company will restore your faith. Last Christmas, I had a great customer service experience – and it all started when a company really screwed up.

My husband, an avid cyclist, had been pining for a particular pair of bike shorts. I scouted them out and ordered them from a local bike shop. It was extremely busy at Admiral Road and I had no time to go pick up the shorts. I called to ask that the shorts be held for me until I could come and collect them. I had a bad feeling about it and actually made the guy on the phone promise me to hold them. When I eventually went to collect the shorts they were nowhere to be found. They had been sold and were out of stock.

I was beside myself. But I also really felt for the bike shop owner who was just trying to deal with his busy season. The owner promptly offered to re-order the shorts. I didn’t want to have to go back to the bike store, so the owner delivered them to my house himself a few days later. Also, the shorts I had ordered were no longer available, so they gave me even fancier shorts at the same price.

As a business owner I know that this transaction resulted in a lot of work with no profit for the store. However, I also know that I will shop there for years to come because of how they fixed the problem. We all just want to be treated fairly – it makes all the difference. Every company makes mistakes - but they are defined by how they handle them.