Happy Birthday to Us!

Well, The Cool Rule Company has made it to its first birthday! It started smiling months ago, it's finally sleeping through the night, has had a good few teething problems but hey, it's just about on its feet and making its own way in the world! Next thing I know, it'll be a toddler.

Any excuse for cake

This time last year I was pulling all the strands of my genius business idea together. The Cool Rule Book trial was done and dusted (with brilliant feedback, of course), the final draft was being lovingly printed and bound, the blog was up and running and the website was coming along nicely. There was only one thing left to do . . . register with the Inland Revenue.

That landmark call was made one dark, thundery afternoon whilst Little Tot was sleeping and Big Tot was at school. I gave my details to the lovely man on the other end of the phone and waited for his heartfelt congratulations. So I was most disappointed when he just asked me if I'd partake in a telephone satisfaction survey. Satisfied? No I bloody wasn't! Didn't he know the hours of toil I'd put in to get to this momentous day?

Luckily most other people I've met since then have been a tad more supportive. I've met some amazing parents trying to be the best mums and dads they possibly can be. I've been lucky enough to have the help of some brilliant business mentors, who have been so generous with their time and advice. And the number of talented, motivated, creative businesswomen I have met has astounded me. I mean, they're everywhere. You're probably sitting on one right now.

Me with the infamous Big Tot and my mentor, Anne

 

 

 

 

Maybe it's a sign of the times but it seems that women today are totally going for it. The women I've met over this year, through mummy-type-networks and right-on-women-type-networks, are calling on their creative powers to get that work-life balance right. What they don't know about combining family, work, health and wellbeing is, quite frankly, not worth knowing. And the important thing is, it's a path they've forged themselves.

I'll put my hands up and honestly say I am still forging my path. I know exactly where I want to be (cue the gentle rolling of waves, rays of sunshine, palm trees swishing etc etc) but the path to get there, considering I'm carrying two unruly Tots, a grumpy hubby and a stack of self-help books, can sometimes get a bit rocky.

I could Cool Rule on a beach

And that's why meeting all these amazing people over the last twelve months has been so inspiring. Yes, their businesses are important. And yes, some of them have some truly magnificent products and services out there. But they're also just normal women, trying to make it all work.

So I've had a brainwave. Let's bring them all together to spread the Cool Rule love. I've asked all of them to write a few words about their businesses throughout our birthday month of July. So, if you want to find out about some fantastic services, some genius products and perhaps get a few pearls of womanly wisdom then this is the place to be.

Go well,

Abi
xxx

Planet Birthday

I have just been to the most amazing place. A place where all other obligations and concerns are set aside. Discarded entirely actually. A place where housework does not matter, work is a thing of the past and you can give yourself up to one single, gripping and head-spinningly addictive focus. I took a trip to Planet Birthday.

Not my birthday. That involved a humble hot chocolate with five marshmallows and quiet musings about my existence. But the birthdays of my two sons, Big Tot and Little Tot, which are conveniently distanced exactly two weeks apart.

Little Tot was first, his being the landmark first birthday and so plenty of inward congratulations to myself about keeping him alive for an entire year. And then was Big Tot's definitive fourth birthday. And that's when I realised I was inhabiting a different planet.

For about four months now I have been using his intense desire for a Super Mario birthday party as an anchor to evoke good behaviour and ultimately get what I want out of him. I believe it's called blackmail. Shame on me. For as the event drew nearer I worked out that I had to deliver. And deliver good if I was going to use that ever-popular parental strategy again.

I didn't willingly go to this other planet. But got sucked in by the sheer amount of consumer choice of Mario-related paraphernalia and also totally entangled in my own creative tendency to think up elaborate and potentially ridiculous schemes. Oooh, we could make Mario cupcakes. We could all wear bushy Mario moustaches. We could build a Mario Kart out of discarded wrapping paper. We could wear dungarees, wave plungers and spanners and run around shooting "Wahoo, Mario time!" at each other.

Or not. I told myself I must get this in perspective. I must consider the financial implications. I must remember the minute scale of my house in relation to the number of children invited. And I must, above all else, get the cake right.

Which is precisely why I decided to get someone else to make it.

Cue my mate Claire who runs a marvellous business called Magic Mummies. She works as a kind of undercover agent, discreetly supplying mums with things they haven't got time to do so they can 'spend less time juggling and more time with the people who really matter'. Or in my case, more time making a 'Pin the Moustache on the Mario' game and blatantly ignoring any real work I had to do.

And because I simply cannot keep my mouth shut, I did not pass her work off as my own. Actually, I was so excited by her business that I couldn't resist using the beautifully adorned (and blooming delicious) Super Mario cake as a means to publicise what she does. She even sourced the Mario figures we stuck on top of the cake and made sure that it was definitely chocolate (requested by the birthday boy) but not too rich or filling for a toddler's tummy. Job done.

So thanks Claire. And thanks to Big Tot and Little Tot for whisking me off to Planet Birthday for a few weeks. The giggles, the balloons, the sticky fingers and the moustaches have all been a beautiful distraction from every day life but sadly I must now return. With a view to visiting again in about a year from now.

Now it's back to being a Magic Mummy myself. Magically interweaving taking care of the family  with being an up and coming, 'one-to-watch' entrepreneur with a hell of a business about to be launched.

And just to dangle a seductive little carrot for you all, you might have noticed the funky little logo at the top of the page. Yes, that's it folks. The final logo for my (slowly) emerging business. Cool or what?

Go well,

Abi

If you want to take advantage of Claire's tremendous secret service, visit www.magicmummies.co.uk

34 Tomorrow

I'll be 34 years old tomorrow. Does that plant me firmly in my mid thirties then?

Is that why my nearly-four-year-old son throws his head back in disbelief when I casually call myself a girl and then practically snorts at me "No Mummy, you're a lady".

Is that why I had to tick a different box on a consumer survey the other day and reluctantly admit I am no longer in the 'Young Person' age bracket?

And is that why I'm here, desperately hugging a mug of hot chocolate with five (yes, five) floating marshmallows and musing over all the things I thought I'd have done by now?

I think we all know the answers to these questions. But how cruel that I can no longer make smudged mascara look cool. How tragic that I am unable to wear ripped jeans without the health visitor raising an eyebrow. And it's not fair that I can't look cool doing Zumba. Who invented this whole ageing business anyway?

But having said all that I'm really quite enjoying getting on a bit. For starters, and let's put the baby-birth hair loss and wobbly belly to one side for a minute, the last four years have given me two fantastic healthy children. They are the result of a heart-stopping romance leading to a happy marriage with my own dark, brooding Mediterranean man. I've had the courage to ditch a career I didn't want any more to boldly be the Mum I've always wanted to be. I've lived in three different countries and therefore met three sets of fabulously gorgeous people. And now, in a bid to tip the balance a little bit more in my favour, I'm starting my own business.

It's all new and exciting right now and whilst it's not exactly top secret, it's not something I'm going to shout about until I'm good to go. So until then you'll just have to be satisfied to know that it's cool and it involves rules of some kind and the antics will be posted right here.

Oh, and I found the inspiration for it during my ever-so-wonderful early thirties. Let's hope the mid-thirties have something to offer too (other than floating marshmallows).

Go well,
Abi