bumbo, I still love you

I recently learned of the Bumbo baby chair recall when I called my brother to see if we could get ours back for baby #2. He had passed it along to someone else and we won't be able to purchase a new one. This had me completely bummed. We loved the Bumbo.

While I sympathize with the parents of the children hurt while using the Bumbo chair I can't help but feel that Bumbo is getting a bum deal in this whole recall thing. Don't get me wrong, I understand the trauma of seeing your little one injured, hell, I panic when my 2 year old gets a fever, but don't accidents exist any more? I always felt very aware that my wobbly infant was destined for falls and spills whether I was inches from him or a few feet away.

IF memory serves, the box and instructions clearly stated that like any infant novelty device (let's be clear, this is NOT a safety device) the seat was not a babysitter, nor intended as a safety seat guaranteed to be secure in any way. It was not recommended for use on surfaces above floor level, and, yes, it was always a possibility that your wriggly infant may work their way out of the chair... and honestly I didn't need the instructions or a sticker on the seat to tell me that. It seemed intuitive. The Bumbo chair has no safety harnesses and resembles nothing I would ever mistake as a fortress of safe keeping for my child. It is a piece of molded foam painted in pretty colors. It gives them some support while they are learning to sit up on their own.

It's one of those things about our modern culture's mindset that really drives me nuts...this idea that there are, or should be, guarantees in life that you and your friends and family will never have accidents or incidents of misfortune. It never seems to be user error anymore...or, God forbid, a simple accident.
There is always someone to blame, a product at fault.

In my two years of motherhood my son has taken many spills, survived numerous bloody lips and bitten tongues (even a scar on the forehead) without the end result being lawsuits and recalls. Isn't that simply the price we all pay to learn basic motor skills? Aren't childhood injuries an expected folly of learning the ropes?

I dropped my son on his back and head once when I slipped while carrying him upstairs. I actually fell on top of him making the matter worse. We went to the doctor and, luckily, he was just fine. However, if he had been seriously injured I am confident that I would not have been recalled as his mother, no charges would have been filed with CPS and my husband would not have banned me from holding him...nor would I have won any lawsuit against the contractor that built our house or the sock manufacturer that made my treacherous , slippery socks. It was an accident. These things do happen...sometimes with tragic results.

Why has litigation become ingrained as one of the steps in the grieving process when tragedy strikes?

If our infants were guaranteed safety in consumer products why would they need us at all to care for them? How many parents drop their infants every year causing injury? I'm going to bet that happens much more frequently than the injuries caused using these chairs. Does there have to be blame just because a consumer product was involved? Can we no longer distinguish between a serious product malfunction or flaw and simple expected risk of using products?

I know I probably sound horribly cynical and sarcastic, but I can't help feeling that one of the big problems in our modern times is our bad habit of not being able to accept that accidents do happen, even tragic ones. Our habit of finding blame for accidents and injuries that are inevitable in a life lived outside of a heavily cushioned, sterile bubble.

Chickens and baby boobies

My son sort of "gets" that he will be a big brother in just a few months...he kind of understands that there is a baby growing in my belly, but his imaginative little toddler brain fills in any blanks with some wildy amusing ideas.
He confuses my breasts and my belly, as if my new round belly is one very large "booby". He kisses it and yells into my belly button, "Come out soon brother!"...and then he'll ask if he can drink milk from my belly button.
He hasn't nursed in over a year, but has many friends that still do or have new nursing siblings and this has spurred a newfound fascination with boobies.
We were in the shower the other evening and he was drawing on tub more intently than usual. A very deliberate and complex drawing of swirls and scribbles and slashes.
He spent so much time on this picture that I just had to ask him what he was drawing.
"Chickens and baby boobies!" he replied.
Being a mom is just so cool.

Too Green for North Adams

We've been steadily working on getting the store prepared for our Spring opening. I'm glad we still have a few months to use since we are doing most of the work ourselves...two pregnant gals re-doing an 1100sqft. store and sewing inventory. it's almost comical.
And trying to keep a grip on FocoLoco.
I was a bit bummed about holiday sales so far on the site. It's been a slower than expected shopping season so far, but just as I was getting ready to stick my head in the oven my partner called to say she had seen one of FocoLoco's shirts in Kiwi magazine's holiday shopping guide!
So very cool to get recognition from such a great green publication! It totally made my day.
As it turns out though, there is such a thing as being "too green". At least, this seems to be true here in North Adams, MA.
I knew from the grapevine that getting our signage and storefront designs approved by the local city planning board would probably be an uphill battle. We have been told no less than a hundred times that our chances of getting signage that is anything but black and gold approved are pretty slim. It's pretty understandable really... black and gold is exactly what I think of when I think "sustainable", "handmade", "baby and kids", right?
I'm actually thinking of painting the nursery in an all black and gold color scheme.
We turned in our most recent proposal several weeks ago and I hadn't heard any feedback yet so I went down to the community development office to see if they had made any decisions.
While no official decision has been made yet I was told that the consensus, so far, was that our storefront was literally, "too green".
This confused me because there are no less than 4 stores on Main Street that are painted primarily green. Hunter green and that traditional Christmas green. They are pretty darn green.
Yes, but those are a different green.
Ah, yes, that makes total sense.
Our green is "too bright".
Of course, I mean a children's store.... bright?
what were we thinking...

so long summer!

It's been about 3 long months and I am finally out of my first trimester of pregnancy with monkey #2. I'm so glad that part is over. It's funny how easily you forget about the really unpleasant parts of pregnancy until you are immersed in them again.
The summer was great, but would have been so much nicer if I didn't feel like I'd been run over by a Mac truck every morning.
Anyways, it's over now and I finally have some energy to update this badly neglected site.
On top of adding to the clan in the coming months, FocoLoco is also entering an exciting new partnership with our buddy, Libbie, and opening a natural/ fairtrade parenting boutique in our quaint little town of North Adams, MA.
We are planning on opening in March, just a month or so before I pop. I've been plenty busy trying to organize this AND grow babies AND keep FocoLoco going AND still being a fairly good parent to the little monkey I already have. Sometimes it seems a bit insane to go through with this, but I feel like I have to at least TRY. If I fail I will just tuck my tail and head back to my at home cave of an office.
I'd much rather try and fail miserably than seethe with jealously watching someone else do it in our town. If it goes well I think we will have a pretty rad store that all the families in the community will enjoy.

Poop.
It's a word I will always find entertaining, but I never thought I would hear it and react with an overwhelming sense of pride.
Yesterday, my son went poop on the potty in a public restroom for the first time. I am so proud you'd think he had scored a 1600 on the SATs. It's one of those moments I love most about parenthood. A monumental victory or accomplishment that becomes routine and passes without notice in our adult lives.

The first time you look down at your child and they smile back at you and it's not "just gas".

Sleeping through the night.

The first bite of "food" aka. that mushy paste that no adult in their right mind would ever eat on purpose.

I know there are a lot of dull moments mixed in there...
The abc's, while complex and fresh to a toddler mind, can be sanity stealing for us grown-ups. There is so much nice stuff though. So much to be happy about even if they keep you tettering on the edge of your sanity. Their emotions , needs and actions are so primal and pure. Simple and uncomplicated.

Sometime in the rapidly approaching future I know my son will stop greeting with me that smile in the morning. Instead I'll have to settle for a barely audible grunt or some form of abbreviated teen talk. Wtf, right? We'll battle over unfinished book reports and curfews. He will hate me(but not really) and I will be the most unfair mother(but not really).

For now I will bask in the glory of a toilet training victory.

Made my Day

I just spoke with my little brother. He's living back in Texas with his lovely wife and adorable son...who is almost one, dear god! He said his new neighbors upstairs have a 3 month old baby, so he decided to pimp my clothing to them. They told him they already owned(and loved) my stuff and started naming off the designs they already had.
It is really cool when your friends and family support your business by buying your products.
It is EXTRA cool when you run into strangers that are buying your products.

dangerously low on batteries

Before my son was born I had all sorts of ideals about the way I would raise this kid. I wanted to steer clear from the plastic, noisy, flashy toys, use cloth diapers and keep him far away from the computer and tv as much as possible.
20 months into it and 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
we are still using cloth diapers, although not exclusively.
he rarely watches tv or "plays" on the computer...
but, man, those obnoxious, noisy, flashy contraptions are a vital part of our daily routine.

It all started when that lovely little newborn didn't turn out to be quiet type and my sleep deprived husband and I were desperate for one night when we could lay him down without hours of screaming ensuing.

We had the battery operated swing, bouncer, crib play station, sound machine and ceiling projector...ANYTHING that might possibly distract our son long enough for his fatigue to capture him and allow him to drift off to sleep.
We have long since retired the swing and bouncer, but the sound machine and projector are as routine as saying "good night" to all the stuffed monsters and playing guitar.

A few nights ago, in the middle of our "good night" routine my husband turned to me with a concerned look on his face:

him: Suz, the projector is low on batteries. He (our son) looks concerned. You better go change them while I play another song for him.

me:Uhhhhhh, I don't think we have anymore C batteries, but I'll look.

him: Well, if there aren't any... you probably shouldn't even come back in here.

His tone was tantamount to a surgeon on a daytime soap breaking the bad news that so-and-so would not, in fact, be surfacing from their coma...EVER.

We are slaves to the battery powered pacification devices.

random memory

When I was in junior high (or maybe it was early high school) we went on a field trip to watch Marcel Marceau, the famous mime, perform... and I forgot my glasses.
Those were a couple of the most boring hours of my life.

YES! We do Co-op discounts!

I figured since we've been getting many inquiries about this subject, I'd just go ahead and put this out there.

I know it isn't always easy to buy ethically-made/ organics since they can be expensive and it's our goal to get our stuff into the hand of you guys(parents) as much as it is to get our stuff onto the shelves of boutiques. (not to say we don't puff up with pride when we DO see our products on the shelves of those painfully cool boutiques)

FocoLoco does take Co-op orders at a discount rate of 40% off our retail prices.

Here are the requirements:

minimum order : $300

The only things we don't offer for the co-op discount are BIBS. ( I'm sure it sounds silly, but these are a huge hassle and more often than not arrive to us damaged from the manufacturer.)

The other conditions are:

1.We must receive a complete order list in one bundle meeting the min. order requirement.
2. We will ship everything to 1 address, in 1 shipment, to then be distributed by your group leader.
3. The order must be paid in 1 payment, in full, before the order can be shipped out.
4. We only accept returns/exchanges on items that are received damaged or the wrong item. Please choose sizes carefully! American Apparel garments run small and are made to fit snuggly. This is particularly true for the 2t-6t organic kids' tee shirts.

So there it is! Chatroom mamas tell yer friends. Playgroup leaders spread the word.

WORD.

Spring Fevers

Finally, the winter has been chased away by some beautiful spring weather...and we spend the month sick with fevers, projectile messes and hospital visits.

After spending the first few weeks of April shoveling snow I was so psyched for the nice weather to finally arrive. Unfortunately, while the weather this past month has been wonderful, our health as a family has been putrid. It started with my appendicitis. Call me naive, but I just didn't think it would take more than a few days to get back to normal after the surgery...this coming from someone who has never had surgery before, of course. It sucked and honestly I'm still not 100%.

Next came the stomach flu. My poor pint-sized sidekick was struck first. He ended up in the hospital for a few days due to dehydration. There is really nothing quite as sad as seeing your child hooked up to IVs, passed out in a hospital crib....which are the most prison-like, chrome barred contraptions I've ever seen. Pretty much the second we got word that he was well enough to head home I came down with the same thing....and now the flu has made it's way to my husband and, hopefully, that will be the end of that.

Overall, I guess I can't bitch too much. In the grand scheme of life, a month of minor illnesses is really no biggie, but it is still such a bummer when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and you can barely get out of bed to run your small business, much less go outside and enjoy the day.

Being cheap, apathetic, lazy and saving the planet!!

On my recent trip to Austin I read the latest issue of Real Simple. I think I love this magazine because it was made for people like me. It sorts all my issues into neat little charts and lists. Gives me only the basics and makes me feel more organized (which speaks volumes since I am a complete and utter scatterbrain). This issue even had a bit about being a hypochondriac covering: symptoms, what you imagine the issue is and the probable culprit. I took it all to heart...I am not dying of any rare disease, I probably just have a cold or something!
Back to the point.
They, like every other magazine I've read recently, had an article on simple ways you could live a life more "green". What I love about this new trend in eco-friendliness, I mean, besides the whole saving the planet stuff, is that many of the activities are things I have done for years out of sheer cheapness, apathy or laziness...and I used to be given a hard time about it.
Not any more!! Ha HA!
No longer will I think twice about wearing my favorite pair of jeans or socks over and over and over again before surrendering them to a wash. I am being ECO-FRIENDLY!!! All you clean freaks out there are killing the planet.
The hodge podge of eclectic thrift store furniture that fills our home is a prime example of REUSE! All those GoodWill clothes I wore in high school because I thought they were "groovy" and that made my dad cringe...simply ahead of the curve.
Packing as much crap in the washer as possible(when the clothes start walking) is CONSERVING water and energy...not simply being too lazy to keep going up and down the basement stairs.
Saving glass jars and styrofoam trays for art supplies and (my favorite) bear-shaped honey bottles for soap dispensers? Again, NOT being cheap-the term is ECO-FRIENDLY.
This green living stuff rocks...
We even used half the heating oil we usually use by installing a kick-butt, propane fireplace in our living room. Using less oil AND finally getting a fireplace in our 100+yr-old, New England home. Priceless.
Now, I don't agree with my dad on all his views on the subject of global warming and the environment, but I kind of share his sentiment that the "sky is falling" panic might be a bit melodramatic, but if it mostly results in good things....can it be that bad?
I may be wrong about the melodrama, but I have to believe that point of view, because if it is really that bad, then we are all screwed anyways and what would be the point?
Hmmm, maybe that's just the laziness talking.

Recycling cartridges

We recently bought a fantastic new printer for FocoLoco. The Epson stylus photo R2400....This thing is RAD. Large format, archival ink....beautiful quality.
The only bummer is that you can't send in the cartridges for recycling!!
Over the past few years we've gotten so used to recycling the ones from our HP photosmart that I was kinda dumbfounded by this...I assumed that ALL cartridges were reusable.
What makes this an even bigger bummer is that this printer uses 9, yes, NINE cartridges. That leaves a whole lot of empty cartridges to deal with.
They can kind of be recycled by being ground down and melted to make packing materials, but most cartridge centers will no longer accept them because they already have way too many and more than they can even use.
"However, we do appreciate that it uses more energy to transport, sort and crush these cartridges than can be recouped by recycling." -Print4less-

beers, steers & my baby brother's wedding

I'm really excited to be heading to Austin this weekend to attend my little bro's wedding! We try to make it down to Texas at least once a year to visit, but I don't think we've been in Austin in about 5 years.
It will be a quick trip, but full of fun.
First, a trip to San Marcos, where I attended university. Time to catch up with my favorite professors and do a little drinking and shuffle board at Riley's. This place is awesome!
http://www.rileystavern.com/music.html
Then back to Austin to dote on my nephew and have a grand ole' party with everyone.
Be back soon!

How Novel

I was recently in contact with a store we used to do business with. Just catching up...seeing if they had, indeed, received the catalogs and e-mails I'd been sending their way. I hadn't heard from them in a while.
It's a puzzler to me because they seemed like a perfect fit for us. A really cool store run by two incredible moms that care about their community, building a network of other mothers and carrying unique small label products. A store that is also a meeting hub for mamas that are into natural parenting, celebrating creative WAHMs and with some sort of an environmental consciousness.
Hey! I'm a WAHM....we are a sweatshop-free company...artist run...offering organic cottons...
So what went wrong? I have no idea.
They said they would keep us in mind for the future and offered this cryptic tidbit:

"At this time, we don't have a lot of demand for novelty t's."

Was this an insult or a compliment?

nov·el·ty (nŏv'əl-tē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. nov·el·ties

1. The quality of being novel; newness.
2. Something new and unusual; an innovation.
3. A small mass-produced article, such as a toy or trinket.

cite: American Heritage Dictionary

Mostly, I wonder what it is that would define my products as being "novel" in comparison to any other shirt you'd buy at a kids' boutique?

Snow Day!

Two days ago we had our first official snow day of the winter. The young man thoroughly enjoyed sledding. Pops and I did not have the same enthusiasm for snow shoveling...
Also, the sweater is almost finished! Just have to sew it up now and knit the collar.

tagged!

I was just about to write about yesterday's snow day, but then I got tagged by tinatheseamonster.

The rules are as follows:
1. someone tags you,
2. you post five things about yourself that you haven’t already mentioned on your blog,
3. you tag people you’d like to know more about.


1. I'm not a citizen of the U.S. I have a "permanent resident alien" card that looks very 007. It has my thumb print and photo on the front and microfilm under the lamination on the back.
I was actually born is Scotland. My parents moved to the states when I was about 7. We used to go back to Scotland every summer for three months to visit our family, but after my parents divorced we weren't able to get back as often.

2. (on the same topic, kinda)In college, when I was about 20, I chose to miss my final exams so that I could visit my grandfather one last time before he passed away (lung cancer/ non-smoker).
I arrived just in time. He passed away a few hours after I got to his hospice. I thought it was extremely wonderful that he was able to hold on until we could say "good-bye".
I still wish I had hugged him more, but he was very frail and I was told that the tumors would hurt him if I tried to hug him closely. I still think I should have hugged him anyways.
He is the only person close to me that has ever died.
I didn't return to Scotland again until about 2 years ago, 9 years later. I was 5 months pregnant and my cousin, Matthew, was getting married.
It's amazing how bonds you create as children transcend time. I see my cousins rarely, but it always feel comfortable and normal when we do get together.

3. I love being social and meeting new people, but I HATE making sales calls! I really think FocoLoco could be much more than it is if I wasn't such a weenie about sales calls. I would rather poke pins in my eyes!

4. My first real job was as a telemarketer. I was 16. It sucked, big time.
People yelled at me. Sometimes you'd ask for someone who had died. Sometimes you'd get stuck on the phone with very lonely elderly people and then the manager would snatch the phone away and still try to squeeze a few bucks out of them. It sucked.
I worked in a tiny, smokey office with about 9 booths that all faced the center of the room where our manager stood, chain-smoking, greasy and dripping with sweat. This guy always had huge yellow pit stains on all of his shirts.
Everyone that worked there were teenage girls except Vicki, the middle-age, amputee that was always trying to sell us her meds....I'm totally not making this up.
This job, I'm quite sure, has an awful lot to do with my sales call phobia.

5. I am obsessed with knitting. My mother taught me this summer. I have 2 suitcases full of yarn. I crave free-time for knitting. I am almost finished with my first sweater, a tiny red/black striped one with a jolly rodger pattern on the front. I really hope it fits my son when I am finished.

okay, so now who to tag...
andrea, jen, marie...I'll have to think of 2 more later.

Form or Function?

Over the past few months, we have accumulated several of the Parents' brand toys. More specifically, the bath-time tug boat, the instrument set and the "palm pilot".
I was immediately drawn to these toys because of their funky, appealing colors and achingly lovely appearance. Honestly, I kinda wanted to buy every darn toy they were offering. I'm a sucker for good design.

Then we actually played with these toys and suddenly all the pretty colors and cutesy characters in the world couldn't make up for how poorly the toys functioned.

The boat's portholes were so close to the base that the slightest splash in the tub sank the whole thing AND(this one kills me) the life preserver is made of thick rubber and plastic and doesn't float!

The palm pilot is sort of an etch-a-sketch type devise, BUT the drawing surface is so saggy and unsupported that it is difficult to actually draw on without permanently indenting the surface, and even then, you can barely see the image.

The musical instrument set, by far the best of the bunch, is not without flaws either.
The ladybug chime instrument has the exact same notes on both sides so instead of 6 different notes/tones(?) you get just 3, and the bumble bee clacker thingy is bound so tightly that no matter how hard you shake it the wings don't slap together.

I found all these flaws really surprising considering these toys are branded with the name of a magazine that I have always considered a good source for recommendations of educational toys that functioned well.
It felt like they designed these toys and then never even tested them to see if they functioned properly. Form over function....and that isn't good design!

Maybe I'm alone in this opinion? I don't know...

Its' so quiet, almost *too* quiet...

Today was my son's first day of daycare.
I've been looking forward to this day with a mix of giddy excitement and understandable parental anxiety.
Just 2 days a week, but I am already extremely optimisitic about what those days will allow me to do in terms of growing this business. I also hope that it will make the other 5 days of the week that I spend with my son that much more enjoyable.
For over a year now I have felt like I've been in one place while my head was in the other...thinking about work while at the playground...planning the afternoon with my son while I should be e-mailing clients.
It's nice to finally have a clear distinction between the two.
I'll still be doing the business full-time, but now with two whole days in the middle of the week to dedicate to that, solely,I can relax about making the rest of it fit more casually into my evenings and naptimes.
I already miss the little dude, but I think the break will be good for both of us. He seems to really love the place and even though I thought *we* had a lot of toys, our collection pales in comparison to that of the daycare!
Here's to new adventures.

Etsy: Artists' friend or foe?

Wowsa! It’s been a while…

So we finally worked out our publishing problems and back in the land of bloggers.

The holiday season was hectic, but wonderful. The little dude continues to grow like a weed. Life has been rolling along smoothly and I consider myself lucky.

I’ve debated posting a entry about Etsy(www.etsy.com), but finally decided that this sort of issue needs some attention…and if enough of us write tiny obscure entries then maybe after a while it will get some attention.

No, I don’t mean that Etsy is too obscure and needs the attention.

I’m talking about, for lack of a more eloquent word, the “shitty” side of Etsy. The side that the big bosses running Etsy simply play ignorant to and claim no liability for. Copyright infringement and copycats.

For anyone reading this that is not aware of Etsy.com, in theory, it is a marketplace for artists and crafters to use( Ebay without the auction aspect) to promote and sell their HANDMADE wares. The big issue is that with over 30,000 users there are many many many sellers that are not HAND-making the things they sell. Worse yet, there are hundreds of items for sale that are blatant knock-offs of successful, established, small businesses…and even a few huge ones. Disney? StarWars? Dora? Thomas the TankEngine?

Overall, I’ve loved the quality and uniqueness of the items I’ve purchased through Etsy. There are many talented artisans finding success in its marketplace. Kudos to all of them. Keep up the great work and I wish you all success in your creations!

Maybe this is just urban legend, but didn’t Disney once sue a daycare for painting murals of their characters on the facilities walls?

Famous photographs of celebrities silk-screened onto clothing? How pissed would you be if you were the photographer seeing dozens of sellers turning your work and talent into their profit without offering you and compensation or asking your permission?. I could be wrong about this, but I’ve always understood that once you create an original design or piece of art it is technically protected under U.S. copyright law and anyone who wishes to use the image must gain your permission before doing so. I’m not certain, but I think that is true.

I realize that most crafters and sellers are probably not up to speed on U.S. copyright laws, but I’d bet a buck or two the folks running Etsy are. There is a “report this item” button that allows you to report items that you don’t believe are handmade or are simply illegal. I’ll admit I’ve reported a few blatant copyright infringements … the items are still for sale weeks later.

Personally, I could care less if Disney loses a few bucks from small artists, I’m not much of a Disney fan(don’t even get me started on “the vault”), but I do care about the small businesses that worked hard for years to establish a unique style and product only to have the Etsy monster come along and spew out a dozen sellers that rip them off and get MORE press, being a piece of the big Etsy machine.

I know, I know, there are a million ways to reinvent the wheel, but when one person buys a product from another business then turns around and sells their own copies of it they need to be held accountable and I am disappointed that Etsy does nothing. Just keeps on collecting their listing fees and sales percentages.

In the corporate world it is called industrial espionage, the only difference is that in the corporate world the businesses can afford the team of lawyers it takes to protect their products.

I’ll still visit Etsy occasionally to shop for unique pieces of artwork or gifts, but mostly I just go there now to make sure my hard work and designs are not being ripped off.