11 minute read
Balancing business with
‘The juggle-struggle is real’: balancing business with motherhood
Cecily Henderson, co-founder of plastic-free children’s toy company PomPom, explains the inspiration behind the brand and offers advice on how to survive working from home with kids.
Rrecently I read that the term ‘mumpreneur’ is now considered patronising. It was a relief, as I am living proof that there is nothing cute about running your own business and being a mother. It’s messy and frustrating, and the juggle-struggle is real. I probably identify more closely with the term ‘wantrepreneur’ – there’s nothing like a healthy dose of
Imposter Syndrome and self-doubt.
Yesterday we sold out of our first set of indoor climbing triangles in just two weeks. It made me sit up and take stock – excuse the pun – of quite what myself and my business partner had achieved through lockdown last year and being 4,731 miles apart.
In 2019, Katherine Rhodes and I set up
PomPom, which sells imaginative and unusual toys, games and homeware for children. We are the natural home of the climbing triangle and proudly plasticfree, from product to packaging.
SHARED PASSIONS
The idea for PomPom was a true moment of clarity. I realised children are the tip of the iceberg of all that comes with them – clothes, toys, nappies – and that we were drowning in colourful plastic. I had been adding to the world’s plastic problem and I didn’t know what to do about it. I was a first-time mum and overwhelmed. Sleep was more important than researching plastic-free alternatives. But I slowly began to shop more consciously.
Katherine and I are old friends from university who share a love of travel, theatre, books, art and dancing on tables. When we became mums, we swapped easy tips on how to buy less plastic and be more sustainable. Our mum-mates started asking for advice on where to buy unusual and loveable alternatives to plastic toys that kids will actually play with again and again. They were too busy to look themselves and yet wanted to do the right thing. We knew we could help and then, PomPom was born.
SURVIVING LOCKDOWN
Although we are a British company, Katherine holds down HQ in Essex and I – for now – need to be in Vancouver, Canada for my husband’s job. In January 2020, I had my second son, a week early, in the middle of packing boxes and the worst snowstorm Vancouver has had in 20 years. My hospital room overlooked the busiest street in the heart of downtown and yet it was silent and beautiful – rather romantic despite the circumstances. Within a week, we had moved house and the basement had flooded, but at least the rats had been evacuated, much to the chagrin of our toddler who loved watching the Rat Trap Man at work.
Meanwhile, Katherine was running the business solo as I started maternity leave. Across the ocean, just as I was slowly getting my family life in order, the world was descending into chaos. A global pandemic was fast becoming personal. Canada and the UK went into lockdown on the same day.
A painfully recent memory, our lockdown drill was like many others. Daycares were closed, we started to work from home, playgrounds were shut, multiple meals a day started to be made – the world over, we were all experiencing the same mad circus juggle. Kids + work + home = insane!
Increasingly, parents were looking for sources of fun at home and they started to turn to PomPom. If our business was going to survive, then we needed to be in this together. I came back from maternity-leave-slashrodent-busting and Katherine and I were going to tackle Covid-19 head-on.
NO CHILDCARE, NO PROBLEM!
Nap times became sacred. We growled if the doorbell rang, we ignored family phone calls and we dreaded a child waking early (are they not programmed machines?!). Evenings were brutal. As the day ended, ours began. Ideally, the last emails would be finished before the wine bottle. Both husbands gripped transatlantic stoves, as we barely looked up from the keyboard to accept a fork and plate.
Our only option was to include our children in our household chores – we could no longer cook, clean or sort the washing while they slept, because this was our only time to work. Hilariously, Katherine’s kids got so efficient, they were featured on the BBC! Washing the floors was a mutual source of fun – try it at home. It’s free, it’s huge fun and it kills at least an hour. It was during these snatched hours that we started to design the indoor PomPom Climbing Triangle. The design was inspired by Dr Emmi Pikler, a Hungarian paediatrician working in the 1940s, who supported the idea of a child’s right to the freedom of movement. The triangle is designed so kids can safely climb and will choose to do so within their own bodily limits. As they grow in confidence, they will climb, slide, jump, race, and begin to interpret the triangle with their imagination… it is a teddy bear’s catwalk, a race track, a reading cave, a doll’s house.
SPARK THEIR IMAGINATION
We have learned the rules and regulations of CE testing – that is the toy safety mark to you and 50 pages of red tape and bureaucracy to me. We found a British carpenter, who we have yet to meet due to Covid-19. I can tell you about his family, his feelings about a nightmare client (not us, thankfully), his last surfing trip, but I don’t know what he looks like.
We have tweaked the design to make it the world’s first climbing triangle with three adjustable heights, a reversible slide and ramp. We have worked with the award-winning duo, Salvesen Graham (Top 100 interior designers by House & Garden) to choose the paint colours. The paint is Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, which is eco-friendly and toxic-free.
The triangle transforms a sitting room into a playroom and folds behind the sofa at night. It will keep kids happily entertained for hours – bring on the fun of long cold winter afternoons.
On 1st October 2020, we celebrated PomPom’s first birthday. We have made more than 1,000 sales and it has been quite the journey. It has never been easy. It has been fun. It has been frustrating. It has been exhilarating. It is not over yet! Perhaps we are becoming entrepreneurs after all.
PomPom is offering readers of Family First a special New Year’s discount. Simply use the code FamilyFirst10 for 10% off your purchase. Visit:
www.shoppompom.com
5 TIPS FOR WORKING FROM HOME WITHOUT CHILDCARE
1. Create a predictable routine, so you know when you should be available for calls/ work, and your kids understand when its nap/quiet/bedtime.
2. Establish a corner that is “yours”. Make sure it is untouchable, as it helps focus.
3. Divide the chores between adults and kids. Collaborate, so when they are asleep, you can focus on work. Make it fun, include them.
4. Use the car. I have listened to hours of courses on SEO, revenue optimisation and best social media practice.
5. Not all tasks are created equal. Prioritise. Don’t get distracted. Switch off the Internet if you need to. Only answer emails that need answering. What should be a 40-hour week needs to be nailed in 20.
TOP 3 FUN IDEAS FOR A RAINY DAY
Here are our three best free activities at home. My husband is reigning champion of #3. My vote is always for minimal effort for maximum fun.
1. Turn off the lights Yep, you heard me. Get out the torches, dig out the 90s glow sticks and have a party. Kids can dance in the dark, read quietly in the dark, play hide and seek in the dark, have tea time in the dark. Light candles on high shelves. It’s amazing how much it changes the atmosphere from boring to brilliant fun.
2. Washing Children are helpful. Fill a bath/sink/bucket and let them wash their teddies, wash building blocks (ideally our biodegradable sugar cane blocks, but plastic will do just fine). If you are feeling really brave, let them help wash the floor. Washing is a winner. We reckon a minimum of half an hour of fun, but you could be there for a couple of hours.
3. Socks An incredibly versatile sport, essential for child development. Ball up socks and throw them. Throw them at each other (parents, please let your kids join in). Throw them at the walls. Sock fight. Play hand tennis. Play boules. Ideally, they would be clean, but we’re not too fussy. You will laugh and laugh. Perfect for the end of the day when frustrations are just building. It. Is. Such. Fun.
It’s all in the mind
Mum of two and mindfulness expert Nikki Wilson explains some quick and easy mindfulness exercises to do with your kids.
Mindfulness is the practice of becoming more aware of our present moment experience, and learning to welcome what we find with a kind and open heart. Often, children find being present much easier than adults, so they can be incredible teachers. Here are a few ideas about how to sow mindfulness into your everyday activities as a family.
LOOK!
When you’re driving with your kids in the car, can you take the initiative to really look and point out what you can see around you? Maybe a funny shaped cloud? An old building with decorative features? The colour of the leaves on the trees? The different shapes and sizes of the cars? Not only can this be a good conversation starter, but it can also be a great way to pull you out of your own head and into the moment, too.
PAUSE AND PAD
Descriptive praise is a proven tool to help your child feel more connected to you. So when they bring home a drawing or make a Lego creation, make the effort to pause. Rather than defaulting to blanket praise such as, “Wow – that’s amazing”, try looking for a really specific detail and pad out your praise with more description. Instead, you might say, “Wow – I really like how you’ve added lights to the front of the wings and what’s this purple stripe doing here?” This helps your child to feel that you are really interested in them.
DIFFERENT DINNER
If you have time to eat together with the kids, tuck into your dinner in a different way and set yourselves a few challenges. Ask everyone at the table to look really closely at their food – what colour is it? What shape is it? What patterns can they see? Be sure to join in too and be warned, the kids will enjoy being cheeky! Then ask them to explore the texture of the food. Is it squidgy? Gooey? Dry? Next, ask them to take a good sniff of the food. What does it smell like? And then ask them to take one slow mouthful. What’s the taste? What does it sound like to chew and swallow? Don’t drag it out – just a few minutes of fun.
THREE GOOD THINGS
You can do this at any time of day, but bedtime is often best. Tell your child three good things that gave you a sense of comfort, happiness and joy today. Then ask them to do the same. In doing this you’re teaching them that it’s within our gift to shift the focus of our attention onto the things that have gone right each day. It’s a guaranteed mood-lifter and a great way to open up a wider conversation about the day.
MINDFUL MOVEMENT
It can be great to tell our kids that top athletes use mindfulness to help calm themselves, focus and perform at their best. When they’re playing with a ball or racket, encourage them to pause for a moment, feel their feet on the ground and feel the ball/racket in their hands. Ask them to focus on their breath – feel the breath move up the nose and out through the mouth. Then encourage them to really focus on their next move. My son likes to say, “Breathe, focus” before he takes a goal kick!
Nikki Wilson is the founder of 10 of zen (www.10ofzen.com) – a social business providing mindfulness tools and training, so together we can stress less. Her work focuses mainly on mums, but she caters for wider groups too. Instagram @tenofzen.
