Birthday Blog Post No. 8

On our guest blog series today I'd like to introduce one of my most favourite business concepts I've come across this year. 'Magic Mummies' is a secret, undercover service for us Mums. Intrigued? Then read on . . .



Hi, I’m Claire and I own a business called 'Magic Mummies', every mum's best kept secret.

Claire - the original Magic Mummy

At Magic Mummies, we provide undercover services for busy mums such as baking cakes for summer fairs, making costumes, arranging parties and gift-sourcing. Our aim is to help take the stress out of everyday life and allow mums to spend less time juggling and more time on themselves and their families. But what makes Magic Mummies so special is that we deliver our services discreetly, which means our mummies can take the all credit if they want to.

Just a taste of what Magic Mummies can do for you

Having just passed our own first birthday I jumped at the chance to write a birthday blog post for Abi at The Cool Rule Company.

I first met Abi at the Derwentside Enterprise Agency’s Mumpreneur group when we were both setting up our businesses at the same time. And as luck would have it I discovered a group of fantastic mums who have been great support ever since, not to mention the Derwentside Enterprise Agency mentors.


Magic Mummies, like The Cool Rule Company, is all about encouraging happy family living as well as making parents’ lives easier. The Cool Rule Company has a range with products to suit every parent's needs. They encourage the setting of simple, loving rules and a way to personalise the whole experience. After all, we all know that every child loves an excuse to look at photos of themselves!

Claire's gorgeous girls


As a mum of two girls myself I am all too aware how difficult it is to maintain a consistent approach to parenting. I’ve lost count of the number of reward schemes I’ve tried! But the Cool Rules are something quite special. They help keep everyone on track and they come in different guises: a Cool Rule Book, reward charts your little one can decorate, rocket and butterfly charts, posters - there really is something for everyone. Creating a balanced home life can be difficult, but The Cool Rule Company certainly helps you to find a balance that works for you.

The Cool Rule range

There have been so many lovely occasions since my first encounter with Abi. The funniest time being when we went to a posh business networking event, took a wrong turn and had to run across a pristeen golf course with our high heels on and a toddler in tow! We just hoped the caretaker wasn't looking!


I just know that Magic Mummies and The Cool Rule Company will continue to collaborate as the businesses develop. I will be launching new Magic Mummy services soon and a new website at the end of summer so keep an eye on the Facebook page for updates.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to get to know Abi and experience The Cool Rule Company in its infancy, because it has gone from strength to strength in its first year. It is barely recognisable as the business that started a year ago. So Happy 1st Birthday to The Cool Rule Company! I can’t wait to see what you’ve achieved by your 2nd Birthday . . . hip, hip hooray!




Thanks Claire! We think Magic Mummies is a tremendous business concept and we're not surprised in the least that your first year has gone so well. 


If you'd like to contact Claire or find out more about how she can go undercover to help you, these are the links you need:


magicmummies.co.uk
facebook.com/magicmums
twitter.com/magicmummies


If you're also curious about what The Cool Rule Company can do for you and your family, check out our website at thecoolrulecompany.co.uk and like us on Facebook to be in on the Cool Rule vibe!

To Boost or Not to Boost? - Day Six

The sixth day of my detox and my Saturday night consists of a bit of blogging, a herbal tea and a bowl of berries. Honestly, how did my life reach these dizzy heights?

Breakfast: Blackberries, blueberries, almonds and brazil nuts, Lunch: Butternut squash soup & salad, Dinner: Quinoa with roast veg, salad, boiled egg & homemade houmus

And to crank up my hedonistic lifestyle even more, I threw a party this afternoon. Yup. An outrageously loud, indulgent, and chaotic party.

Though I have to admit, the loudness came from the over-excited Tots, the indulgence belonged to everybody but me and the chaos reigned wherever Little Tot decided to land. I think you're starting to form a mental picture.

But I bet you wouldn't guess that it was actually an 80th birthday party. A good friend of mine's Mum had turned 80 and wanted a low key birthday event. Nothing fancy, nothing swish, and she wanted to be with the Tots. And because the local soft play centre did not seem to me to be the ideal place to take an 80-year old, I had suggested, a few weeks ago, that we have a birthday tea at my house. Sorted. No problem. Until I decided to go on a blinkin' detox.

Cake made by Magic Mummies - white chocolate and raspberry, mmmmm!

So for the second time in six days I have found myself in the position of preparing indulgent food for a gathering of people without tasting a single bite for myself. I'm getting really rather good at this. And saying no to a glass of Cava didn't seem nearly as difficult as it was on my Mam's birthday, five days ago.

What really puzzled me though, was that it was quite easy to say no to the really naughty stuff like biscuits, chocolate and the oh-so-factory-processed scotch eggs. But when I got the Ryvita Thins out of their packet I thought I might swoon with desire. They were sesame seed adorned as well. That nearly tipped me over the edge.

I didn't give in to these little temptations!

What's with that? Bizarre cravings for a food I'd usually liken to cardboard. These are thoroughly strange times.

It seems that this whole detox experience is thoroughly strange. There is no text book process to it and I guess that's because digestive systems differ from person to person. One minute you're up (quite literally, leaping about with energy) and the next minute you're down (quite literally, in bed in a darkened room, nursing a headache). Everything comes in waves and it can be a little unnerving.

But I can turn to the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn to remind me how to deal with it all:

"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."

And maybe by Day 10 the waters will have calmed to a ripple.

Go well,

Abi

Transform the life you share with your toddler at www.thecoolrulecompany.co.uk

Get fantastic info on women's health and fitness at www.femalefitness.co

See Jon Kabat-Zinn in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

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