The March issue of Parenting magazine featured our MY wide tote. The fact that we are parents has obviously oozed into the features of our bags. Our bags are similar to who we are (or try to be) by being multi-functional, tough as nails, and let the bad stuff roll off our backs. However, when it comes to parenting - that is the real parenting, not the magazine - it's not always that easy.
We have come up with a list of five gems (we live for lists) of advice we have collected over the years on how to, well, deal with being a parent.
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Care Less. This a father of five's mantra. It's sort of a don't worry, be happy kind of advice. You know what? Most of the time, most kids will grow up unscathed and ultimately be pretty ok. So does it really matter if Max (Y's son) switches from trumpet to flute next year, even though he's played for trumpet for 3 years. Answer: NO.
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You are a Parent. Your kids have plenty of friends; they don't need you in that mix. This advice comes from Michele's dad, Albert. He raised 8 kids, you know, like the TV show. They used to have a joke in Michele's house, "8 is too much." Albert is so right-on with his advice: Don't forget your role.
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This too shall pass. Okay, we're going real old school here. Everything our kids do is just a phase, both good and bad. So savor the good and ignore the bad. This can get you through a lot of adolescent door slamming.
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Look in the Mirror. Let's face it, they learned that bad behavior somewhere. They don't get everything from the school and TV. How many times have you been "not so in control of your emotions?" Enough said.
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Take care of yourself. Keep your martyrdom gene in check, grab you're
MY Wide Tote and do something fun for yourself. A happy parent is a better parent. We just made that up.
If you have any gems of parenting advice you would like to share with the MY family, please leave a comment on our blog.
Best,
Nothing is better than whining and wining - you know, getting together with girlfriends over a glass of Pinot Grigio or a smooth Malbec to yap about well......everything. We do this every month or so and we love our
MY wide tote for transporting our contribution to the evening. As if you didn't already know, a regular sized wine bottle fits snugly in the bottle sleeve of our totes. It's great because the wine won't end up rolling all over the car.
Recently, a friend who had spent some time in Italy was lamenting about how difficult it was to bring home a couple of bottles of wine to share with the group.
Well, as usual, the MY gals have the answer! Often in our travels we meet other women entrepreneurs. Our friend and fellow entrepreneur, Amy Dias has solved the problem by developing a line of products specifically for transporting wine safely. Her company is Bottlewise - Wine Travel Bags with Altitude! (Don't you just love that tag line?) Seriously, they're amazing. Just put your wine bottles in these Bot'l paks, pack them in your checked luggage and fly home with no worries!
Good News! Amy Dias has given us a discount code to share with you. It's valid for one week only, March 22-29. So Hurry! The code myoilcloth entitles you to a discount of 15% off your entire order. Check it out at Bottlewise.com
Enjoy!
Now we don't mean the remote control in your hand while you are watching Michael Scott and his crew of The Office. We're talking about the
MY oilcloth world headquarters. Our work ethic is a little more stable than our Hollywood friends and we need to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. That takes organization. We have done a few small things in the office that have helped us to streamline some of the mundane, but very necessary tasks, by following a simple rule: "Keep everything at your fingertips."
Our printer/copy center: Okay, don't laugh, it's just a couple of shelves, but that printer is producing all day long. There are several ink cartridge replacements and paper changes and refills during the day. We keep all of our supplies together, different types of paper and labels including a little mini recycle bin for our empty ink cartridges.
The Board: Our design board keeps everything we have going on design wise, fabrics, components, beauty shots of our bags. It is all right there in front of us all the time, inspiring us; when we have an idea or something we want to remember to change, it goes on the board.
The Partners Desk: Without it, we are nothing. This basically keeps each other within slapping range if one of us says something stupid. Mostly we do a lot of high fives, you would know that if you watched our youtube channel.
What are your favorite tips for keeping your workspace organized?
Best,
I know you were expecting Michele or Yvette, but it's me, Gretchen, the new intern here at MY oilcloth inc. I've come to them from the Tufts University Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.
Thanks to me, Michele and Yvette are busy Tweeting and Facebooking. I couldn't be more proud of them! In the first three days I was plagued with questions...
"Why do people need to hear that you're still hungry?!"
"Why would people want to see pictures of my grandma's 80th birthday party?!"
"Why does the whole world need to know that your kid needs a ride to the orthodontist?!"
Why? Why? Why? They started to sound like toddlers! So I finally set them straight. I reminded them that people want to know when new styles are coming out, when we're in a new store, and that the MY cult following needs a place to convene. And then when I told them it would make them seem ten years younger, they were all over it.
By the way, this internship's for credit--so please join the MY oilcloth Facebook page! You'll love connecting with other MY fans...and it wouldn't hurt my grade either!
Best,
Gretchen
P.S. Interns get free MY bags...yesss!