Welcome to my FIRST giveaway in celebration of one year of blogging! This is a really special giveaway from a company that just warms my heart.
ChildOrganics is a small family business that focuses on Children?s Organic Products. They strongly believe in nurturing your family naturally and have worked hard to bring you products to help you do just that. While cloth diapers are not all they sell, that is where they started. Today ChildOrganics offers everything from Waldorf dolls to wood toys/games/puzzles, to mama care, to baby care, to clothing, to mattresses, to every babywearing option imaginable! ChildOrganics is truly a one-stop shop!
The website is rich with links, articles, and virtual support for all parents. They even have some great recipes for wipes, teething crackers, and play dough.
Erica, one of the owners of Child Organics, was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions for me. Before I reveal the giveaway item (which is amazing) please take a moment to learn more about her and her great company!
On your website?s About Us page you briefly discuss your desire to be a stay at home mom as the motivation behind starting ChildOrganics. Since you launched your business in almost 10 years ago, what ups and downs have you encountered running your own business and balancing motherhood?
There have been lots of ups and downs along the way. ?We started ChildOrganics because I didn?t want to go back to my full time job. ?I couldn?t imagine leaving my baby girl all day with someone else. It seems like it would just be impossible to me. The business started out great with lots of help from my husband. ?We expanded our business to include childbirth classes with both my husband and I being Certified.? Things changed a bit with the birth of our second daughter. She only lived a short time, 16 months, she was born with?Walker Warburg Syndrome. Of course the business took a backseat through those rough years. While we were able to keep the business running, some aspects of the business suffered. ?For exampIe, I had an almost three year break in my blogging. ?Since then we?ve had another little bundle of joy, so we?re chasing him around quite a bit these days. Now we homeschool, which demands its own focus.? It?s all about flexibility. I?m very thankful that working from home allows for this. Now, I tend work a lot with ChildOrganics after the kids are in bed.
What moment from any of your children?s lives are you sure you would have missed had you not been able to stay home with them?
There are the big moments, like the first word and the first steps. But with my oldest I remember the first time she was covered from head to toe in mud exploring outside, it gave me such a thrill. With Bella I wouldn?t want to have been away from her for one day since she was with us for such a short time. Working from home allowed me to visit her daily in the NICU for the months that she was there. ?She rolled over once in her whole life and she smiled so rarely they were like treasures each time. I have the greatest memory of her ?singing? one time, she was never very vocal but this one time she was ?singing? and I?m so thankful not to have missed those moments. Now my youngest just turned three and has become a chatterbox. He is saying things on a daily basis that has me in stitches sometimes, I?m so glad I?m home to hear his T-rex roars and his funny take on things. He has recently begun to say the prayers before our meals. They are quite special to say the least, I?m so thankful I?m not missing those!
How do you ensure the highest quality of products for your customers?
It was very important to us to work with ethical companies. We wanted the highest quality of organic products that were fair trade and environmentally friendly. Most of the companies we work with go above and beyond to be sure their workers are making a living wage and provide them with a safe working environment. This is important to us. We also work with a lot of small family businesses. ChildOrganics was a means for me to stay at home with my family so we like the idea of support other families trying to do the same. We have used most of the products we carry, we wanted to pick products that we love and share them with others that are concerned about the best for their children and the planet.
What are your most popular items?
Our eco-lambskin is our top seller, followed closely by the machine washable sheepskin for baby. Our sheepskin products have been? our ?top sellers for the past few years. They are so versatile. A family will buy one for home, then come back and buy another to keep at Grandma?s house. They require very little care, and they seem last forever!
What are your personal favorite items?
I LOVE the Keptin, Jr. dolls. Each of my children had a different one. I?ve treasured them as keepsakes.? They are great to chew for teething babies because they are made from organic wool and cotton and they are so easy to love. It was one of the first things I had in the NICU with my daughter, Bella. I slept with it a few nights to give it my scent, then left it with her while we were away. It made me feel like I was leaving a bit of love behind with her. They are the perfect lovey!
What advice do you have for mothers who are balancing a career (however that looks) and motherhood, especially with a child who has special needs? I know your journey with your daughter ended far too early but nonetheless, you walked a very difficult road doing both.
It often doesn?t look balanced at all. I guess that?s my first bit of advice. Don?t expect to be able to do it all, you can?t! Sometimes your business will have to be put on the back burner so you can focus on your family. Sometimes you?ll have to stay up too late at night to get things taken care of with your business or finishing up the laundry. You do the best you can with what you have at the moment. Having a support team is essential. A husband that is willing to return a few phone calls, or fix glitches on the website is priceless. A mother that will come over and let you take a bath while she sets with the kids can save your sanity. If you are dealing with a special needs child on top of all of the other responsibilities of being a parent and running a business, then you really need to be able to accept the fact you have limits and ACCEPT HELP when someone offers. Be gracious, be grateful, and remember it?s ok to ask for help when you?re doing all you can to keep your head above water.
And the moment you have all been waiting for?
ChildOrganics is offering one lucky reader a Boyo doll made by Keptin, Jr. This simple and adorable doll is made with 100% organic cotton and filled with pure wool. Made in Lithuania. ?Retails for $33.50
Pretty sweet!
Here is how to enter:
Mandatory Entry ? visit the ChildOrganics Website and tell me what other item(s)? you might like to have for your wee one(s). Leave a comment WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!Extra Entries are SUPER EASY. Leave a second comment with the numbers of the corresponsing entries. So if you did them all you would simply say ?I did #s 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Easy, easy peasy! I will do the heavy lifting at the end of the giveaway.
Here are all the extra entry options. If you are already doing these, cool. If not, have at it!
4.?? Follow ChildOrganics on Twitter 6.?? Subscribe to Hybrid Rasta Mama via RSS and/or email 7.?? Like Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook 8.?? Follow Hybrid Rasta Mama on TwitterThis giveaway opens today, February 2, 2012 and closes February 12, 2012 at 11:59pm PST. Winner will be selected via random.org. I will email you and you will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected.
Questions? Ask away. Otherwise, READY, SET, ENTER!!!!!
Good luck!
Jennifer
Source: http://www.hybridrastamama.com/2012/02/chilld-organics-boyo-doll-giveaway-0212.html
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