Support Your Local Mompreneur

It may just where I am in my life, or the people I am associated with these days, but I know a lot of Mompreneurs. This morning I saw the creator of The Mompreneur magazine on BT, and I was reminded of what an amazing trend this is. Think about it. Women, most of whom had full time careers before they had children, have now decided that instead of going back to a position with a steady paycheck and predictable hours, they will take the second biggest risk of their lives, right after the first! Are we crazy!!??!!

I can only answer for myself. Becoming a Mompreneur was a choice for me that came from many directions. It was about flexibility, doing something I loved, and being available for my children. I have said those things before. And I could have found those things elsewhere. Mostly, becoming a Mompreneur was about showing my children that anything is possible if you work hard, commit to it, and get right back up after you fall. And maybe proving that to myself, as well.

This weekend there is a Mompreneur show at the Blackfoot Inn. Its free, so go and check out the ingenuity and creativity of these savvy business women. I guarantee you will find more than one product or service that will make you say "Why didn't anyone do this sooner?" And you will be supporting your local Mompreneurs.

Another Adventure Begins

It took about 6 shopping trips to assemble all the gear. Elbow pads, knee pads, shoulder pads, face mask, neck protector, special shorts, protective "cup", new skates, hockey sticks. Two of everything. And 2 giant bags to carry it all in. It took 25 minutes to get it all packed into the bags, and get the kids in the car. 7 minutes to drive to the rink, another 25 minutes to get both kids fully dressed and on the ice. Finally, for the first time, they are playing hockey. There are even a couple of kids they know out there with them. And as I am about to dig the camera out, my husband tells me that there is a sign on the door that says "absolutely no recording devices" of any kind allowed. Are you kidding me???!!! Well, you will just have to trust me on this one. They worked hard, and they loved it! I guess there are some memories we still have to keep in our minds, and share with our children one story at a time.

Coming Soon

No, it is not another baby. Seriously.

Coming soon...a redesigned SmallWonder.ca!!!

I decided that it will never get done unless I start telling people about it. Now, I will feel foolish if I don't get the site finished. So, there it is, a promise to all of you that there will be something new in the next few weeks. New layout, revised pricing information, added products and some fun stuff, too. I can't wait for it to be done. I hope you like it.

Taking Care of Business

Small Wonder was supposed to solve all my problems. I could do business from home, take my 2 boys to and from school, and have plenty of time left over for shopping! It seemed like a flawless plan. But as we all know, life throws you curve balls, and ours was a third baby boy. Now, he is an absolute angel and the most wonderful curve ball we have had the pleasure of being thrown. Still, life and business are not happening exactly how I had planned. I am now so exhausted most of the time, I can't imagine taking on any work, or marketing my business, or updating the website, which needs it badly. And when I do occasionally get a burst of energy, probably induced by an overdose of caffeine, it seems there is not enough time between feedings to get anything done.

If you happen to be a Mom and/or a business person, you know that this is not an unusual circumstance. The real surprise is that both business and parenthood benefit from the same strategy. Baby steps. Make little strides every day. Break things down into small, do-able tasks that can be accomplished in 30 minutes or less. It sounds simple, but getting a small something done is better than doing nothing because its all too overwhelming.

So, will I be Super Mom to three boys and a multi-million dollar business woman? Probably not. I may never be either of those things. Can I move closer to my ultimate goals of raising a happy family and finding a little success for myself? You bet. One baby step at a time.

Where is the camera when you need it?

So, my beautiful baby boy decided that he would roll over. It was a momentous moment. Well, really it was his frustrated reaction to being left on his tummy while I was baking cookies. Needless to say he was pretty upset by the time he got over, and the video camera was no where to be found. The next day I put him back on his tummy, because I am mean, and he got mad and turned over again. Still, no video camera. Seriously, I put him there on his tummy to make him roll over, yet I was not holding the video camera??? What was I thinking. The sweet boy has not done it since. He just refuses to roll over. And now he doesn't even get that upset when I put him on his tummy. He just spits up a little, pushes up on his arms and checks out the blanket he's on. Crawling can't be too far off, right? Better get the camera ready.

A Digital Age

How many digital photos do you have? I can't even count them all. I was looking through them today and couldn't believe how many I haven't even seen before. It has been 4 years since we bought our first digital camera, but somehow I have still not made the transition in my mind from prinited photos in a scrapbook to whatever it is I am going to do with the thousands of digital photos we have taken and continue to take. This wouldn't bother me so much except they are almost exclusively photos of our children. As an adult I feel connected to my past by looking at the photos and photo albums from my childhood. And even more important, I get a glimpse into the childhoods of my parents and grandparents by looking at their old photos. How will our children and grandchildren connect to their past?

Slowly but surely I am trying to wrap my head around the digital legacy we will leave. It frightens me that if something happens to my hard drive, many of the photos will be gone forever. And with digital photography, there are literally thousands of photos taken, instead of hundreds. I want to find a way to customize the viewing method, choose the best pictures and make it entertaining to look at them. Most importantly, I don't want to print them. I don't. It takes too much time. It costs a lot. And it feels wrong to take the medium of the present and convert it to the medium of the past.

So, I came up with this idea of the Video Scrapbook. It seems like a great idea, cause when I looked it up, other people had thought of it, too. I started making them for myself and my family. Then other people saw them, and they wanted one, too. The best part about them is that my kids love to watch the Video Scrapbooks of themselves when they were babies. Already, they are able to connect to their past. And isn't that what taking pictures is all about?

It is a small wonder

When I started my business, I spent the first days trying to settle on a name. What I do is related to children, so I wrote down every word I could think of that could refer to babies and children. My business relies on a website, so I then began searching for each of my favourite names online. After much deliberation, I settled on Small Wonder. It wasn't my first choice and I wasn't in love with it, but it worked. I have since found so much meaning in the name that now it helps define who I am.

So, what is a Small Wonder?

Each of my three beautiful children are a small wonder unto themselves. I see it every day when I look into their curious eyes, and I hear it when they tell me what they are learning in school, or in the case of the youngest, when he makes cooing sounds that mealt my heart. And their very existance in my life is a small wonder. They defied the odds, they survived the risks, they triumphed over my deepest fears! Well, they defied the odds, anyway.

And they inspired me, as part of an ongoing quest to be a better person, to start a business. Small Wonder not only in name but in definition. It is definately small, despite my continuing efforts. Yet, it is wonderful, because each time I compile the beautiful memories of another client and their family, I feel connected to them. I see how similar we all are, and how precious each moment of life is. And when I see or hear their reaction to the finished product, I know I have done something good. I am not saving human life, or effecting world peace. Mine is a small wonder, one that allows me to feel happy and fulfilled at the end of the day.

So, although the phrase "small wonder" can have a negative connotation, "Small wonder he doesn't get frost-bite, playing in the snow with no mittens." it can also have a very positive feeling. "Remember when our son was 2 months old and he learned how to smile? Small wonder."