Photo by Alexander Dummer on Unsplash
If you’re a stay-at-home parent looking to make a little more money while raising your children, you’re not alone. In fact, more and more mums and dads are beginning to run businesses from their living room. For example, a recent study from the Office for National Statistics found that there are currently 806,000 stay-at-home mums running their own firms.
Continue reading “Top Tips For Becoming A Successful Mumtrepreneur”
Once you get to my age, with two kids of your own, you’re pretty well versed in what is and isn’t useful to give to new parents as a gift. I’ve been through various things like nappy bins (I never really got the hang of our one, to be honest) and wipe warmers to know what I would never buy again, and also remember what was an absolute godsend when my two were little. With that in mind, here are a few suggetions that will definitely be a hit with new parents:
It doesn’t matter how many new vests and sleepsuits new parents buy ahead of their baby being born, once they arrive it will never seem enough. I don’t think there are many parents in the world who have bathed and changed their baby into clean clothes, only for a poo-nami or vomit volcano to erupt! Cute baby sleepsuits are always a winner and the range of neutrals for parets who don’t know the gender of their baby is MUCH greater nowadays.
In the past, lots of people would turn up with a freshly baked casserole or a stash of frozen meals to make new parents life easier. The modern version of this is buying them a gift card! Either find out their favourite takeaway or go for a delivery service like Just Eat or Deliveroo and have a voucher for a meal delivered. They’ll thank you for making their lives easier AND for making sure they’re getting a decent meal between feeds and nappy changes.
As with the baby grows and vests, another thing which new parents can never have enough of is muslins. They’re a fab multi-purpose item which can be used for wiping up spit-up, using as a shoulder guard when you’re burping baby, draping over you if you’re breastfeeding and want some privacy – there are even huge muslins which are made for swaddling baby.
When Sausage was a tiny baby, my Mum and Dad gave us a Braun in-ear thermometer, and we still use it to this day. It’s been an absolute godsend for over a decade and while some people may feel uncomfortable giving a gift which relates to potential illness, it’s genuinely one of the most useful, practical gifts we were given. A few years ago, we were gifted a newer, no-touch model which was fairly new tech at the time and after using it a few times, we actually gave it away and went back to our trusty in-ear model!
Although I didn’t breastfeed my two, having a large, v-shaped pillow was a huge help when it came to bottle feeding. I’d sit in an armchair and place the pillow on my lap with baby snuggled safely on top. It meant that my hands were both free for bottle holding and interacting, and we were both comfortable. It’s something that would be one of the first things I’d recommend to new parents, I think.
Here in the Mum’s the Word house, we’re huge fans of personalised gifts. In the past, we’ve made mugs, photo books, canvas prints and even chocolates with special messages on them! That’s why, when LoveLox Lockets got in touch and asked if I’d like to review a personalised locket, I knew I couldn’t refuse.
LoveLox is a London-based company with one goal – providing beautiful bespoke jewellery which is unique to everyone who buys one. There’s a huge range of options to choose from in terms of your finish and engraving, and each locket is engraved, assembled and packaged here in the UK.
The beauty of the personalised locket is that, unlike old fashioned lockets where you have to try to find a TINY photo and cut it out to put it in the locket yourself, LoveLox use a lab quality printer and professional grade glossy paper to place the image directly into each locket before they send it to you. Aside from making the whole process about a million times easier than doing it yourself, it looks about a million times better, too!
The actual process of creating your locket online couldn’t be easier. Simply choose the images you want to use and upload them to the website. You can move the photos around and crop them as you need to, to make sure they’re displayed perfectly. This is where you can add your engraving, with choices of fonts and letter sizing allowing you to get it just right. There’s also the option to choose a 16-18 inch necklace or a slightly longer one which is 20-24 inches – I went for the latter because I’ve got a fat neck and standard necklaces end to look like chokers on me!
Once the order was placed, delivery took less than a week, and there’s even an option for two-day delivery for just a few quid extra, making this ideal for even the scattiest of brains if you need a gift for a special occasion! The lockets are beautifully packaged, too, so you could happily send one directly to the recipient, safe in the knowledge that it will turn up looking perfectly gift-worthy and gorgeous.
I’m absolutely delighted with the quality of my personalised locket – the images may be small but they’re lovely and clear and the engraving looks top-notch. I wear it constantly, even when I’m just at home, as I love the feeling of having it close to me. As you can see from the images above, I’ve got one picture of Husband with Chuck and one image of Husband with Maureen and the engraving says “Goodest Ones” (absolute pigeon, I’m aware, but we used to tell Chuck that he wasn’t just a good boy, he was the “goodest boy” and it’s something that just stuck).
If you’re looking for a last minute Mother’s Day gift, birthday pressie or just something to show someone how much they mean to you, I highly recommend LoveLox. I couldn’t be happier with my beautiful locket and it’s something that I know will last a long time. The personalisation makes it so special and I can’t imagine anyone receiving one as a gift not loving it.
Head over to the LoveLox lockets page to see all of the different options available.
As a parent, you want to ensure your children have the best, whether it be food, clothes, toys, furniture, or leisure activities. Alongside this, bills still need to be paid, and all of the above can cost money.
To be able to manage this, you may want to consider taking on some work. For some, getting a traditional job may not be a possibility, especially with very young children to look after. This is where working for yourself can tick some of those boxes. This can give you the freedom to earn your own money, around a schedule that suits you and your prior commitments to your family.
Also, keep in mind that when you have found a selection of clients for your product or service, you may need an invoice template to be able to request payment on completion of each project. Always use the tools available to you online (click the link) to make your working life easier – you have enough to juggle already parenting and building your business!
If you have a gift with the written word, you may want to consider taking on some jobs involving the writing industry, such as writing articles, aiding with literature, and, if you understand another language, translating text. These jobs can be found on both job sites and social media, and can quickly give you some money to play with.
Since many writing tasks will have a day and time deadline, as opposed to requiring a certain amount of work to be completed each day, this means you can adjust the amount you are willing to work based on the hours you will be available. For the busy mum, that may be while children are at school or even when they are in bed.
Some mums find they spend a lot of time in the kitchen, either preparing meals or baking alongside their children. For those who are confident in their ability to produce some delicious goods, selling them may be an option.
Within this, you may be required to complete food safety qualifications, as well as to obtain business insurance. It may also be a requirement to display a list of allergens and ingredients on the boxes to avoid any illness occurring.
If you have a passion for baking, this can definitely be a good step forward for you.
Some women love crafts, while others hope it can be banished from their home. If you are the former, you may want to consider creating items either in bulk, or made to order, to sell to the public. Many people sell their homemade crafts on websites such as Etsy every day. You can factor the cost of materials, as well as the time it takes to make the item, into the price, and potentially make a good income from your artistic nature.
Working for yourself from home can be extremely rewarding, especially if it means you get to simultaneously earn money while raising your children. Depending on how much you earn, you may need to declare this to the tax office, and pay any tax or NI contributions, as necessary.
There is hardly any doubt that working mums often feel overwhelmed with daily life. While it can be challenging to stay on top of a chaotic day, especially as a working mum. When you do not have a male counterpart to help you out around the house, there are a few hirable services that will help to make your life easier, and free up some time on your busy schedule:
Continue reading “Services-To-Hire That Every Working Mum Should Know About”