Starting a Small Business by Starting Small and Playing with Shaving Cream: Mary’s Story

BoldLittleMinds MomCast
Written By Mom Identity Project

In this latest episode of the Bold Little Minds MomCast, I sit down with Mary, a stay-at-home mom and entrepreneur, who shares her inspiring journey through motherhood and starting her businesses. This episode is full of relatable moments, heartfelt advice, and motivates listeners to pursue their dreams while enjoying the little things in life.

An Unexpected Path to Entrepreneurship

Mary, a stay-at-home mom of two, took an unexpected turn into entrepreneurship, which all began with a simple desire to make something special for her daughter. As a physical therapist by training, Mary never intended to become an entrepreneur, but her life experiences naturally led her on this path. The journey wasn’t always easy, especially with the challenges of becoming a mom, but through resilience and determination, Mary turned a hobby into successful businesses.

From Dreams to Reality

Mary’s story began at college, not fully aware of where life would lead her, but marrying her husband soon after offered new directions. After experiencing the struggles many face with infertility, Mary found joy and purpose in motherhood. Her candid recount of starting her Laurel Tree and Me business during those late-night hours of motherhood portrays how her passion transformed into a unique clothing boutique.

Balancing Acts and Life Lessons

Parenthood is never without its challenges. For Mary, balancing her business with family life meant leveraging her physical therapy background to bring about patience and adaptability. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mary embraced the unexpected circumstances that allowed her to stay home, focus on her family, and re-evaluate her priorities. Mary believes in the power of simplicity when it comes to parenting. Whether it’s playing with blocks or blowing bubbles, the simplest activities often bring the most joy and connection. Her parenting philosophy emphasizes creating wholesome memories and being present with her children, whether jumping in muddy puddles or making messy fun with shaving cream on the counter.

Launching The Modern Ramona

Drawing from her entrepreneurial spirit, Mary launched The Modern Ramona, a brand on Amazon born out of seizing a new opportunity. Her strategy to work intensively at the start enables smoother management and more time for family later. This endeavor reflects Mary’s transformative journey through entrepreneurship, and she shares encouraging words about not rushing the process and letting genuine ideas guide one's path.

Building a Supportive Marriage

A strong marriage forms the foundation of Mary’s family life. By setting rituals like expressing gratitude before bed and avoiding unhealthy conflict, Mary and her husband nurture their relationship amidst the chaos of daily life. Her advice reassures that every phase of life is temporary, urging couples to share mutual understanding and respect.

Final Words of Wisdom

Closing on an empowering note, Mary encourages moms with ideas to just start, no matter how small. Her path from crafting burp cloths to running a clothing boutique exemplifies that sometimes the best ideas stem from genuine desires to create joy for the ones we love. Mary’s journey reminds us to embrace every moment, take little steps, and cherish the unpredictability of life’s adventure. To connect with Mary and follow her journey, check out The Modern Ramona on Instagram and her Laurel Tree and Me clothing boutique online. Let her story inspire you to nurture your dreams without bound.

Modern Ramona Amazon Store

Modern Ramona Instagram

Laurel Tree & Me

Laurel Tree and Me Instagram

Whether you're a mom looking for inspiration or an aspiring entrepreneur, this episode of Bold Little Minds MomCast is a heartwarming reminder that great things often start with the simplest actions. Join us next time for more inspiring stories on the Bold Little Minds MomCast, and don’t forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review to help other moms find us. Happy listening!

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Transcript

[00:00:00] In this episode, we'll hear how Mary's simple idea to make burp cloths for her daughter led to more time with her children and the launch of several successful businesses.

Hi everyone, you're listening to the Bold Little Minds MomCast, a podcast where we talk to incredible moms who share their unique journey to motherhood, practical tips, and some of our favorite low prep activities. So you can enjoy that hot cup of coffee. I'm your host, Krissy. I'm a mom of two boys. I'm glad you're here with us.

So pop in your earbuds and let's have some fun.

Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of the Bold Little Minds MomCast. I am so happy to have you here with me. I'm Krissy. I'm a mom of two young boys. This week's episode is going to be different than any of the ones that you've heard before. We've had eight episodes published, and I'm so thrilled with all of the support that I've received so far.

But one thing I've noticed consistently is that busy moms don't have time for an hour long episode. So I made the difficult decision to cut down the episode to more of a 25 30 [00:01:00] minute time frame, so that way hopefully you can listen to the whole thing. Now, the conversations that I'm having with moms are so rich.

Every single conversation that I have with a guest ends with, I can't believe how fast that went. And wow, I had so much more I wanted to say. Maybe we can do a part two. And I agree with them. Everything has just been amazing. And it's so hard to think, what am I going to cut out and leave behind? So I've decided to come up with Two versions of the episode.

One episode will be released on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, wherever you're listening to podcasts. And that will be the main version of the podcast. The rest of the content, that's still going to be incredibly valuable, I'm going to put out on my sub stack. And I'll put out on Instagram and Facebook how you can access that.

But what you can do is you can join completely for free and listen to the bonus episode. The rest of the footage that didn't make it into the full episode. Now, I'm not necessarily planning on this being permanent. I want to give it a try and see how it [00:02:00] goes because that's the best way to experiment and try new things and see if it's working for everybody.

So I'd love to hear your feedback. Another thing I'd really like to hear from you are, What? Portions of the episode are really valuable that you want to make sure make it into the full episode. Right now I'm putting in the main parts of the story and the activity idea because at the core of everything my mission is to help moms to share their stories but also to To share activity ideas that you can use with your little ones.

So that way you can have some time to yourself. And that's how I'm trying to make my Instagram and my social media presence kind of morph the two together. I want to support moms from multiple different angles. So I'm continuing with posting the podcast clips as well as posting activity ideas that you can use outside of that.

So I hope that's been working. It's been feeling good for me as I'm tiptoeing my way into this and figuring out exactly what fits. It's been very exciting no matter what. This week in social media, you can expect to see some [00:03:00] content about this week's podcast, some of the highlights. But you can also expect to see some of my ideas about how to use learning posters without just putting them on the wall.

Because let's be honest, when you put posters just on the wall and they stay there. Sure. The kids notice them for the first couple of days, maybe the first week, but after that it becomes background noise. So I truly believe the best way to use a learning poster is to play with it. Just like everything else, learning through play.

I'm also continuing my series on how to use. items throughout the year. Which ones do you want to pick? We are deep in Halloween season right now, but things are starting to fly off the shelves. The Halloween season is going away as Thanksgiving and Christmas comes in. So I'll be wrapping up with a couple of ideas for Halloween that you can go out and grab those items now, so you can hang on to them for year round play.

Last week, I did a post on cauldrons and for cauldrons, when St. Patrick's day rolls around. You'll probably wish you had one for all the leprechaun play. So it's really great to grab [00:04:00] those kinds of things now, put them in a bin, stick them away, and know that you can have them. But let's be honest, for cauldron play, you can use that for potion making, and kids love that all year round.

So for me, I'm going to use that. My cauldrons are never going to go away. I also plan to share about how my activity menus can help you when you're parenting. I've been so happy with how my three and a half year old has loved these menus. I have two, one for each kid, but the three and a half year old's the one that uses them more than the 22 month old.

He's not really grabbing them. But I keep them in our dining room in a little tray and every day he goes and grabs them in the dry erase marker and he goes straight to work imagining and practicing and doing all of these things, reading the pictures, saying the names of the pictures that are there or whatever page I have in there.

He's taking it, and it's blossoming into something that I couldn't even have planned. One of my favorite things that I see is he loves to do the connect the dots, but he just marks off the numbers, just ticks them off, [00:05:00] one, two, three, and through doing these little ticks, sure, he's not making a smooth line connecting the dots, it still makes the picture.

It's a little fuzzy, and it looks a little wonky. But he still makes it. So at the end when he's done counting, he's like, look mama, a cat! And he just counted to whatever that number goes up to. 30? I mean, I don't even remember what it was. For him, taking these activities and coming up with how he wants to play with them is so engaging that I have time to drink my coffee again.

Or what's also really cool is I have time to play with my cat. 22 month old and do something different with him because that second child often doesn't get that one on one time with you. So this has been a really great solution for how can I get that time without neglecting my three and a half year old.

It's been awesome. On this week's episode I talked to Mary. Mary is a mom of two and also a small business owner. Listening to her story about how she took something so small and watched it blossom into something bigger [00:06:00] than she could have ever imagined is so incredible. We talk about her difficult journey to motherhood and also some of her secrets to how to keep her marriage healthy and strong with two young kids and how she fills her day with play and connection with her kids.

She has some really fun ideas that I can't wait for you to hear. Now remember, not all of this will be in this episode. In the bonus episode that you'll find on Substack, you'll hear more about how she started these businesses and how they've grown into what they are now. So I hope that you listen to this episode all the way through and that you're able to jump into the bonus episode here and there throughout the week.

Let me know what you think about this episode. new format. I'm definitely open to ideas and I love hearing what you have to say because as the listener, it's important that I make this work for you. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Mary as much as I did. Enjoy the show.

 

Krissy: Thank you so much for listening to the Bold Little Minds MomCast. My name is Krissy, I am a stay at home mom of two, and I am here today with Mary. Mary is also a stay at home mom of two. Her kids are ages [00:07:00] five and two, and I am so excited to have you here today, Mary.

Thank you for joining us.

Mary: Thanks for having me.

Krissy: love following all your small businesses on social media. You are an entrepreneur and you have a lot going on. You are a busy lady. So taking the time to be here with us is just, I'm grateful for that.

Mary: It's like not in my DNA to sit down and do nothing, so, this is nothing, like, this is not me doing nothing.

Krissy: know, right? And it still feels like we're relaxing cause we're like hanging out

Mary: Oh.

Krissy: It's so

Mary: Yeah, it's wonderful.

Krissy: get it. So please tell me about who you were before becoming a mom, before becoming an entrepreneur. What was your life like?

Mary: I think it really all started with, I went to college, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. So a great idea would be to go to college and figure out what you want to do. It's not a good idea. You get into a lot of debt, not knowing what, where you want to go with your life. So yeah, I, I went to college for a couple of [00:08:00] years and in that time I met my husband and We got engaged pretty quickly.

And then as soon as I graduated college, we got married. And I was a wife and I was working as a PT and that, those are my two roles. But then we just started our journey to have kids, which was, it, it was not an easy journey.

Krissy: I know that's so common and it doesn't necessarily feel that way, especially when you're in it.

Mary: Yeah. Yeah. You never, you never think it's going to be as hard as it is until you actually want it to happen. But it took us about two years to have my oldest. And we started actually going through the IVF process, we did all the testing, but before we had to do the actual procedures, by some miracle, we found out that we were pregnant.

Krissy: wow.

Mary: It was, it was a wonderful surprise. But a lot of people don't always talk about it either. My husband has infertility and I do. So [00:09:00] oftentimes you don't realize that it's like. Not just the women that have a hard time. So, it added to our journey, but we lucked out and had my daughter.

Krissy: Amazing. Wow. So before all that you were in physical therapy, were you

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: Specializing in adults and kids? What was your journey there? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

Mary: I love elderly people. That was my thing. So, I was always working with the elderly population. I had a specialty in wound care, so I did a lot of, you know, Debreeding and cleaning of wounds, which a lot of people think it's just nurses that do it, but I was the PT that did it, so I love gross things and I love cute old people.

Krissy: that's great. And I bet it prepared you in a lot of ways for motherhood.

Mary: Oh yeah, I'm not squeamish at all. And the elderly population, especially when, you know, they're at the end of life, it's very similar to younger kids, so yeah, it's fun.

Krissy: [00:10:00] changes are pretty universal at both those parts in life and even in our middle age. I know my brain is changing like crazy and

Mary: Oh, yeah. I hear you.

Krissy: it's tough to navigate sometimes, but we'll get through it. So

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: therapist for how many years?

Mary: Oh my goodness. I want to say about five, but I was still working as a PT after I had my daughter. It wasn't until I had my son that I left. So I was working as a I was a mom, I was working as a PT, but I had also started my Laurel Tree and Me business, so I was kind of juggling the three all at once.

Krissy: That's

Mary: Mm hmm.

Krissy: Wow. So tell me about your first business then.

Mary: Yeah, I think I just saw people starting Etsy businesses, and I was a mom, and I'm like, well, I'm gonna make my daughter's burp cloths, so I just started sewing them, and I'm like, oh, maybe I can sell these on Etsy, and [00:11:00] then the business just transpired to me. Nothing having to do with burp cloths, and yeah, it just grew.

Krissy: it's so amazing how that happens. You start with this little idea and then it just kind

Mary: Mm hmm.

Krissy: out. Where did your inspiration come from?

Mary: I think, I am such a dreamer, and I always have this vision and idea for what I want my life to be like, and nobody is going to make that happen except for me. I can wish, and I can wish as much as I want, but. It's not going to happen unless you actually do something. So I think something that just started out as a hobby, and I'm like, I can make a little extra money here and there, turned into something that changed my life.

Krissy: Oh, that's incredible. Now you have a second child, right? He's so

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: years apart. Tell me about that journey. I did, especially with the issues you had trying to conceive the first time. How is that for

Mary: Yes. So after it [00:12:00] actually was probably about a year when my daughter was a year, we decided we wanted to have another. And it was just about almost in the height of, or the pandemic was about to start. And at the time, if you work in healthcare, every single time you went so much to a doctor's office, you had to quarantine for two weeks.

You couldn't go to work. So when you're pregnant, you're going to the doctors all the time. I was never in work. So, I actually, I, I was pregnant and we were pregnant with twins. And unfortunately we lost one of them and then a couple weeks after we lost the other. And as you can imagine, in and out of the doctors, surgeries, what not.

And I, I just, I was out of work for months. So it kind of gave me the opportunity to put things into perspective in terms of balancing like my business and my career. And then once I was lucky to get pregnant successfully and keep it with my son, [00:13:00] I decided, you know, I'm, I'm going to stay home.

Krissy: Good for you. Wow. What a,

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: I had multiple

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: having multiples and losing both, that's a whole different thing.

Mary: Yeah, it was a freak thing. It was truly a freak thing. You're devastated, but then you're so excited because it's like, maybe there's a reason there was two. Like, one of them is still gonna be here, and it didn't work out that way, but I, I mean, I wouldn't have my son if we didn't go through all that, and he's the best, so.

Krissy: right? After you have a little baby, it puts things in a different realm. I mean, you can still

Mary: Oh, for sure.

Krissy: and we still remember our babies. We have donuts the day after Christmas and it gets just

Mary: Oh,

Krissy: that we do and we don't

Mary: yeah,

Krissy: are too young right now, so we don't talk about it with

Mary: right,

Krissy: look at each other and just kind of remember and

Mary: right, right. Yeah, oh, I love that. That's really special.

Krissy: So you had a [00:14:00] little baby at the time too. I mean, I know, because if you had a, what was she must've been right around one then still, right?

Mary: Yep. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.

Krissy: have babies at the time when I had my losses. So to have one to, with all that, that sadness, it must've been

Mary: Yeah. It was hard, but I, I want to say in some ways it made it easier. It was a, we actually had a loss before we had Our first and it was a lot harder to cope with because at the time it's like I just want to be a mom So after having her and then having the losses it was really hard But I was a mom so I I had at least gotten that and I knew I would be okay So

Krissy: And you're so busy, like with being a mom that drives your attention. It gives you something else to

Mary: yeah,

Krissy: I remember I was always trying to find something to focus on besides that. And when you have a

Mary: yeah

Krissy: running around, a toddler running around, there's not much

Mary: Yeah. Yeah. [00:15:00] It's a good distraction. So what was it like for you now? You have two kids going

Yes.

Krissy: is hard enough as it is. And now you're shifting your identity, leaving work and becoming a full time mom.

What was that like?

Mary: You know, I, I think I already had so much, like so much of a grace period to kind of take on that role that it, it, it was easy. It was smooth sailing. I, I know that I meant to be just like a mom and home with my kids. So I mean, you throw me in the deep end and I will survive.

So it's, it's, I mean, it's wonderful. It's the best.

Krissy: Oh, that's great. And how did your daughter do becoming a big sister?

Mary: She is like mom number two. She is so reliable. You know how moms have that, like, you have to use reverse psychology on your kids sometimes to get them to do things? She is the [00:16:00] queen of reverse psychology with my son. Like some people listen to her negotiating and they're like, where does she? And I'm like, she's just a natural, she's a natural big sister.

She's a natural big sister.

Krissy: That's so fun. And I feel like three, around three when she was, especially with girls, they got that extra

Mary: Yeah,

Krissy: to them. So that

Mary: yeah, yep. Mm

Krissy: time to see her kind of go into that. So it was good timing then. Yeah. Right.

Mary: and again, as much as like, you know, the heartache we went through with the losses, the age difference between my kids, it's I mean, I know people that have like three under five, three under four, and I'm like, I just, I can't do that. yeah.

Krissy: little second mom, that must, must be so fun. And now with

Mary: Yeah,

Krissy: two, or becoming

Mary: yeah, yeah,

Krissy: three, right, he

Mary: three.

Krissy: he dealing with that now? Is he starting to push back?

Mary: Oh, yes. He's been pushing back for about a year now because she's, you know, been so in [00:17:00] control of him He now has his voice, but it's it's great because she's always been my very cautious careful Child and my son is so adventurous and wild. He really brings that out in her And makes her like a little bit less anxious to do new things, but also she brings out like the, the tender loving side in him.

They, they're really the perfect balance for each other.

Krissy: sounds like it. That's

Mary: Yeah. So we've talked about a lot of activities that you do with your kids, but I want to hear your favorite go to, like the kids are getting a little crazy and you want to drink that coffee. What is the thing that you pull out and every single time it's going to keep them occupied for a little while?

Shaving cream. I don't know if you, did you do that as a kid in school? In school, they used to always do that. Pour shaving cream on the desk and then we would use it to clean our desk. But if you [00:18:00] play with it, with it enough, eventually it disappears. So I always have cans of shaving cream. I just pour it out and it really doesn't make a mess cause it disappears.

Eventually I just spray the countertop and they go at it. They spread it, they play it, they can draw and write in it. And then eventually when they play with it enough, it just disappears. So you can put more on or you don't need to, and you just have a clean counter.

Krissy: is so smart to do it on your counter.

Mary: Yeah, yeah.

Krissy: my gosh, I use

Mary: They love it.

Krissy: I use it in the water table and they like right now their thing is just spraying the whole can. So

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: have a ton of them because they just want to empty out the whole thing and they

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: and it kind of swirls and makes this pearlescent thing.

So I was sad that now that water table season is dying out, what are we going to

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: But the countertop that's like,

Mary: Do it on your counter. Coffee table. I mean anything that I, I mean, I don't know if I would, yeah, I guess I have a wood table. I'd [00:19:00] probably do it on that too. I guess as long as it's like sealed or whatever, but Yeah, that's been my go to. It brings back memories from my childhood in school, using it to clean our desks, and my kids love it.

And you can add things to it I don't know, any type of like sensory toy you could add to it. My son likes to drive his cars in it and make roads.

Krissy: that's a great

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: Yes.

Mary: Mm hmm.

Krissy: kitchen island. Just take everything, put it somewhere else, and then

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: organize that stuff too. So when you put it back on,

Mary: Yes. Yeah.

Krissy: too.

Mary: Yep. Yep. And it's great because I can do the dishes in the kitchen while the kids are occupied and then my husband comes home, he has clean dishes, and everyone's happy.

Krissy: is sounding really appealing here.

Mary: Yeah. Yep.

Krissy: the idea of putting little sensory things in, like you could throw pom poms up there and then roll

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: in it.

Mary: Yep. Yep. Well, and that's another thing. Pom poms. That's a good idea because [00:20:00] I've always done pom poms and water and my kids just like to drop them and hear the sound of the dropping and mixing it and making their potions. But pom poms and shaving cream. I'll have to try that. Yeah. Oh.

Krissy: that I keep in my room really high and of all different sizes. I love the three inch giant pom poms and I have every single size. And. I'll pull them out when I, that's like my go to and they cook with them.

So right now I have the red, yellow, and green ones out because of apples. And we make a lot of apple soup and apple pie where they just put them in the pots and pans, stir them up and do all kinds

Mary: Yes, you don't have to get all fancy like with, you know, some people buy all this stuff or you go to some kids houses and they just have toys on toys on toys. Just pull out a couple pots in your kitchen, give them some spoons, water, pom poms. I mean, they'll be happier. That's just like how they say kids prefer sometimes the wrapping paper more than the gift.

[00:21:00] It's just simple goes a long way.

Krissy: really does. So we, we still, you know, we have a ton of toys and

Mary: Oh, for sure.

Krissy: And I've started I got these new cabinets that have locks on them

Mary: Oh,

Krissy: it started because, you know, my, my babies are almost two year old. He's in his phase and has been his whole life where he just dumps everything out. He's just destructo, he's destructive.

And so I locked the cabinets so that way they can't just go in there to. wreak havoc. And it

Mary: Yeah,

Krissy: good. There are so many days that I don't open either cabinet because they're so busy doing other things.

Mary: yes, yeah. I know it's funny. You get all these ideas, and you buy all these things. I, I do this too. I mean, we have these, Two large cabinets on either side of our TV in the living room. And I just had every kid toy you could think of, anything my kids would ever want to play with in there. And my husband and I were, we're listening to this podcast about like kids behavior and stuff, because we were struggling with my son a little bit.

[00:22:00] Just getting really aggressive, having a hard time sharing. And one thing she said in there is just put the most simple things in there. Take out. all this stuff and put it in a rotation. You know, if you have 10 different toys in there, leave five of them and then just rotate them. And we noticed such a big difference in my son's attitude.

Just because he had, It wasn't even chaos before, but he just had less options, and he, it, it's so weird how something so simple like that makes such a difference, but just like us sometimes, if our house is a mess, we're all stressed because it's like, Chaos, but when our house is clean, we feel peace.

It's kind of like that with our kids. If they have so many options, it can be so overwhelming. But just to have a couple things, like they're not gonna feel like they're missing out or like they don't have all the things that they need. It makes such a difference.

Krissy: And one thing I find, [00:23:00] so rotations stress me out just because of thinking about it, but the locked cabinet situation is helping me where I can unlock a cabinet and they can

Mary: yes.

Krissy: But remembering that like one toy can be like a whole category. So

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: we play with cars and trucks, We play with all the cars and trucks and that and that's like a category for us.

That's just how

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: So like I open up the car, it's the garage. I opened up the car and truck bin and

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: when they have more of those, they just seem to play with them better because like all the

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: go on the car carrier and the garage and like they're experimenting with sizes and how things go together and it's really cool to see.

So

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: one toy in a rotation doesn't have to mean, like, literally, like, the fire truck.

Mary: Oh yeah, no, we have like a bin of dinosaurs, that's one toy in our rotation. I'm not like that simplistic, like Montessori, you got a big bucket of like 20 dinosaurs, but yeah.

Krissy: Right. It's more fun. I [00:24:00] remember having Barbie castles that were like, you know, my whole house. The more Barbies, the better over when I was a kid. So I think that's

Mary: Yeah. Exactly, I agree.

Krissy: That's so fun. So tell me about having a boy and a girl because I think my boys are insane and wild

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: kids, My sister's kids are girls and I feel like they, they're also, you know, wild because that's kids, but they'll

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: a coloring book, whereas my

Mary: Yeah. Yep.

Krissy: so much.

So tell me what your observations are.

Mary: It's funny, because before I had kids, I wanted to be a boy mom. I just wanted boys. And I, I, I was a little bit sad when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, not because I didn't want her, but I was like, Well, this throws off what I imagined for myself. And after having her, I'm like, I only want girls.

This is just wonderful. You have like your little best friend you can do things with and, and girls are very different than boys. So then when I found out I was . I was [00:25:00] pregnant with my son. I was like, wait, I thought I was going to be a girl mom. I didn't know I was going to have one of each. And then after having him, it's honestly like the best of both worlds.

Just like you said, she will sit down, she will color, she will, she will play dress up. She's just very like, She's just, she's just a girl. She wants to paint her nails. She wants to do her makeup. And my son, as you know, they're just rough and tough and wild and they don't sit down ever. I don't know how we haven't ended up in like an urgent care.

Like it's just a whole new world. I mean, I remember the first time my daughter got like a bloody lip and my son gets one every day. Cause he's just like jumping off the, yeah. We have like the nugget couches and he's just jumping off the top. It's just, he's scary. Yes, but they are totally opposite. But there's so much good in both.

And [00:26:00] they say that boys are wild when they're younger, but they mellow out when they're older. Girls are easier when they're younger and they're going to give you a run for your money when you're older, which as a girl, I can attest to so.

Krissy: We'll see

Mary: Ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha

Krissy: I'm willing, I, I think

Mary: ha

Krissy: mellow out in different ways. I think they're

Mary: Yeah

Krissy: and risky, but maybe as a mom, it seems easier because you're just like, been there, done that, they're gonna be fine,

Mary: yeah. See, I don't have much to compare it to. Cause in my family growing up, we, there were three girls and a boy, the boy, he was the youngest. So we kind of, he, he was just, he wasn't one of the girls, but he was so just covered and he just had three sisters. So we never really got to see that like wild side come out in him because he just, we were so, yeah.

I don't even know the word. We, as girls, we were a lot. So he kind of just like sat in the [00:27:00] back.

Krissy: that sounds like my husband. He's got a lot of sisters and it just kind of had to be mellow because of that.

Mary: Yes, yeah, yeah, he didn't get to really shine, but

Krissy: So do you have any final words of wisdom that you want to share with moms who are listening today?

Mary: honestly, if you have an idea or a vision that you have for yourself, you don't have to be an entrepreneur. You don't have to recreate the wheel, like you just find something that you love and do it. And, and who knows something cool might come out of it. Just like how I created. Burp cloths because I wanted to sew them for my daughter and give her something that I made.

I never had it in my mind that I was going to be an entrepreneur. That was not in the cards for me. It's not my personality. It's just not me. And. One thing led to the next thing and I, for sure, have been on the right path all along and here I am, an entrepreneur and it came from just something [00:28:00] sweet I wanted to do for my daughter.

So, if you have an idea or something that you want to do, just Do it. And, and don't judge your path compared to anybody else's path because they're completely different and there's everything that's okay with that.

Krissy: I love the baby step piece of it because I know that's kind of how my journey is going is I had,

Mary: Mm hmm.

Krissy: I knew I wanted to do something. And

Mary: Mm hmm.

Krissy: like feeling this urge where I just knew I wanted to start and create and do all of these things, but I didn't know what.

Mary: Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

Krissy: that pressure off of thinking, what is that big idea? Because the big idea is not going to be the one that comes first. It's going to be the little ideas. So taking the baby steps, like for me, it was start just starting a public Instagram page and posting things that made sense and that's evolved and changed. And then, you know, somebody heard my voiceover and was like, You've got a really great voice.

Maybe you should do a podcast. And I was thinking about that. And so it just evolves and who knows what's going to be next. So

Mary: [00:29:00] Yes!

Krissy: the big idea. Just go with the little ones for now.

Mary: Oh, for sure. I have people that come to me all the time and they're like, Tell me how to do this. Tell me how to do that. And I'm like, that's not how it works. It's not how it worked for me. It's not how it worked for anyone that you see on social media. You only see some sides of things. And, and yeah, you gotta give yourself grace and.

You just gotta live your life as authentically as you can to yourself, and whatever's meant to happen for you. I mean, it's, it's coming for you.

It will 

Krissy: Come for sure. What's next

Mary: Mm-Hmm? . Oh, I have no idea. I'm, I'm . I'm just still trying to work on being the best wife, the best mom, and just keep along the path of my modern Ramona business and see where it takes me.

I'm trying to take the pressure off and not. Come up with a next step vision plan for myself. I'm kinda looking to see just what the universe brings me.

Krissy: love that. Yeah. And how do you usually come up [00:30:00] with your ideas? Like with your rug and your recipe box, all those things.

Mary: Just based off of things that I have in my own home that aren't working for me. Like, we had a playroom rug and it was like, slipping all over the place. The idea, the look of it was great, but it just wasn't working for us. And I was like, I can Do that and even better. So that's what I did.

Krissy: see what the next inconvenience in your life is when we see the next product pop up

Mary: I have some good ideas.

Krissy: Awesome. Well, I can't wait to see them and follow your journey. And this has been such a joy to talk to you. I've really enjoyed our conversation. Tell everybody where they can find you and follow along with your latest and greatest ideas.

Mary: Yeah, so if you follow me on instagram at the modern ramona will be my My fulfill by amazon, business and then i'm still running my online clothing boutique that you can find me at laureltreeandme or you could go [00:31:00] to laureltreeandme. com

Krissy: Great. Awesome. I definitely recommend. And your boutique looks so cute. I mean, you were just doing

Mary: Thanks

Krissy: and looking at it all. It's like, I just want to do a whole closet rehaul after having two

Mary: Yeah Yeah,

Krissy: makes sense anymore. I need new clothes. Okay.

Mary: I mean, half the time that's where my ideas come from. Something I want, I'm like, Oh, I'll just make that.

Krissy: Perfect. I love it. Well, thank you so much. And if you are interested in sharing your story, I would love to share your story with the world on the podcast. Send me an email at boldlittleminds com or you can send me a DM on my social media. I'm boldlittleminds on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, all the things. can find this podcast on Amazon, Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Make sure that you subscribe and share with your friends. Leave a quick little rating and review that helps us to reach other moms. And I am so glad that you took the time to listen to us today. I look forward to seeing you next time. 

To hear more from Mary [00:32:00] about how she went from being a full time physical therapist to a full time mom and how she really developed her business and started her brand new Amazon fulfillment business. Listen to the Part B episode on the Substack. We also talk about some of her really great ideas for play, including how she washes her hair outside in the rain with her kids.

And we hear her tips on how to keep her marriage healthy and strong. You'll find the link to the Substack in the show notes, and you'll also hear them on my Instagram and Facebook page. I hope that you'll join us over there.

 Mary Bonus

 [00:00:00] 

Thank you for joining me for part B of my interview with Mary. In this portion of the episode, you'll hear in more detail how Mary decided to leave physical therapy to become a full time mom and really develop her businesses, including how she started her Amazon fulfillment business. You'll also hear some really great play ideas, how she comes up with her ideas for her products and uses them in her play and how she works with her husband to keep her marriage strong.

I hope that you enjoyed this part of the episode.

 

​

 

Krissy: So there you are. You've had this journey to trying and trying and trying to be a mom, going through all

Mary: Mm hmm.

Krissy: Having your daughter and then

Mary: Mm hmm.

Krissy: long after she was born, you said burp cloth, so I'm assuming you started this pretty soon after she was born.

Mary: I was pregnant with her when I saw her. Started the idea and started doing like the sewing and stuff for myself. But yeah, I, I mean, I, I was running my business at least on Etsy. Immediately postpartum, but it was at [00:01:00] such the early stages that it wasn't, it wasn't something that was like stressful or anything.

Krissy: So what exactly is the Laurel Tree and Me? I, I, so burp cloth and sewing. So what do you wear?

Mary: But that's how it started and then I had somebody ask me to make a bunch of like custom shirts for their baby and I didn't know how to do that but I have a hard time saying no so I'm like yeah I'm gonna figure out how to do this and I'm gonna do it and one thing led to another and Laurel Tree and me turned into like a almost like a woman and child Clothing boutique, but we have a lot of like little extra things too, but yeah, it's basically just like an online boutique

Krissy: Wow. That's so fun. I love that

Mary: yeah.

Krissy: like, so you

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: shop around, but it's

Mary: Yeah

Krissy: your own closet.

Mary: No, nope I again when I have an idea even if it has nothing to do with like what my focus is I'm [00:02:00] gonna try to find a way to squeeze it in

Krissy: Right. And I love that you started it when you were pregnant because I don't know about you, but I feel like after I had my, my first, my life became, it was like a total 360. I was always busy, always doing things. It was like you, I had like three jobs at one time and then he was born and all of a sudden I was like, I can't even shower. I

Mary: Yeah

Krissy: goes. What was that like

Mary: Yes,

Krissy: having your first one?

Mary: my husband was very supportive and the job he had at the time it was really great because he actually got six months of time off of work more than I would have ever qualified for and Because of that that's what kind of made it possible because he was so so present and it was just us and my daughter.

So I was able to juggle everything. And I also like, you know, babies, they're up so late at night. That was like my prime time to work. I'm just up with her and I'm on my computer [00:03:00] working.

Krissy: That makes a lot of sense because I feel like if I had something going before he was

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: would have had that. But instead I was just

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: social media, like

Mary: Yeah. Yeah.

Krissy: listening to podcasts, all these

Mary: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. I think it's just like the, all the pieces just aligned and I don't know, some people believe in fate, but there's a reason for everything I'm sure of.

Krissy: Definitely. 

 

Krissy: So you had all these appointments and did you decide in that to leave work? Did they kind of push you and say, what are you doing here? How did that

Mary: No, my, my boss at the time knew that I really struggled with wanting to be home, but also I, I, I'm a people pleaser and I felt like that if I left my job, I was going to let them all down. And she always told me it was okay. It was okay. You need to do what you need to do for your family. But it wasn't until.

 I had so much extra time with my family and I saw [00:04:00] that my workplace was surviving without me. They weren't devastated. That I was like, you know what? Maybe, maybe this is the path I'm meant to be on. It's okay for me to be a stay at home mom. I'm not letting my patients down. I'm not letting my co workers down.

There will be somebody else that will come along and, and it's okay. So I think it was that, that kind of put everything into perspective.

Krissy: Wow. And how amazing it was because of this quarantining that you had to

Mary: I know.

Krissy: you probably wouldn't have taken the time off for all these appointments or

Mary: No.

Krissy: or any of it other than

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: needed.

Mary: Yeah. As, as difficult as going through COVID and everything was, I think for everybody it changed my life in the best way. There's a lot of good things that came out of it. So, I mean, I would go through it all again if I had to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

Krissy: different way, trying to kind of reprioritize, relook at things and [00:05:00] like shuffle the deck and see where the cards laid. So that's great.

Mary: Yep, absolutely. I agree. 

 

Krissy: So in my early parenting, I really leaned into physical therapy videos on Instagram,

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: therapists, because I felt like there was like nothing to do with a newborn. Like, what do I do with this kid? So

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: therapy made sense, because you can be physical with them more than,

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: things like tummy time and leaning into that. Do you find

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: background helped you with that? I mean, how does it

Mary: Oh, for sure.

Krissy: Yeah,

Mary: Yeah. I think it gives me more patience and grace with my kids because I know that like wherever they're at developmentally is not the same as other kids and that's okay. It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong. So I think it made me less of an anxious mother because I knew that like not everybody is the same.

Krissy: right. Oh, that makes that's a really good thing to have in the back of your

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: watching your kids grow up. Because even now with

Mary: Yeah.[00:06:00] 

Krissy: know, I see my second one and it's so hard to even compare because you forget so fast what kids

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: like, was he doing this? Should I be doing more

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: And, and just think, just have that perspective and remember, no, he's going to be fine is huge.

Mary: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I have, I have a couple of siblings, but two of my sisters have kids and they're always so anxious about like, you know, where they're at developmentally. Mary, do you think they're okay? I'm like, they're fine. They're fine. You know, no two, no two kids are the same at the same stage.

So.

Krissy: Right, 

 

Krissy: you became, you're now a mom, you're out of the healthcare field, you're watching that kind of go by the way side, and now you're really leaning into your businesses, right?

Mary: Yes. Yeah. So really what it is is my Laurel tree and me business has been great. Why I, I worked my way off of Etsy and I do everything on my own website. And as much as I love it and I will forever do it, [00:07:00] the more The more work I get, the more orders I get in, the more work I have to do. And I found that I was struggling balancing the mom life and also the work life.

And so I went through a tough period where I'm like, I really need to find a way to work really hard. to hopefully not have to do as much work after. Like once I get something going and rolling, it's going to kind of work for me. So that's, that's where I've been at with my new business that I started.

Krissy: So tell me about that. I mean, I think some of my followers are familiar because I post some of your things, but I

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: all about it, where that started, because this is so fascinating.

Mary: So I have a good friend who's our family photographer. She's been photographing us since my husband and I got engaged. And she heard of a program called the Rainmaker family. And basically it's a family that teaches [00:08:00] mostly moms, but anyone can do it, how to run an Amazon, a Fulfill by Amazon business.

So I jumped on board with them and, and joined their program and they taught me everything I needed to know to create my own business. So I knew that like, I know a lot about business. I know I'm a hard worker and I don't like to fail. So I knew that I could make this work. So it was a big investment to start, but I learned so much and my business, the Modern Ramona was born from it.

And now I have four products that I sell on Amazon and it's cool because you put in a ton of ton of work to find your manufacturers, get a good relationship with them, design a product and, and, create it and, and make something unique to you. But once you do all that hard work, I just send all my stuff to Amazon and they do the rest of the work for me.

So it was a good [00:09:00] balance for me because I, I was able to work really hard and get what I wanted out of it. But now I get to kind of see all my hard work working for me, if that makes sense.

Krissy: definitely does. And how fun is that to, to learn something new, to

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: mental energy into something productive and to then be exploring this new idea.

Mary: Yeah, and and my number one priority always is being a mom and being with my kids and I felt like I was losing that and so I This has really been a huge kind of light at the end of the tunnel to solve that problem Yes Yep Right, right Yeah

Krissy: want anything that is timed that like, I have to do this. Like, sure. We have our interview scheduled, but Like that's nothing that's an hour that's a blip out of the radar and but I don't I don't I never [00:10:00] set a date if you notice I've never said my podcast comes out every Monday because I don't want it to have to like if

Mary: That's genius!

Krissy: and

Mary: Yeah!

Krissy: can just put it aside and make it happen because.

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: kids are important, but

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: in that time initially, and sure you might be busy for a little while, that's okay too.

Mary: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And, and I always say to like, you know, I'm always, I'm always showing up for my kids. I'm always being like the mom they need me to be. But if my like marriage isn't good, then it doesn't matter how good of a mom I am. They sense it. They feel it. And when I'm overworked or when I'm stressed, you know, love my husband, but he gets the grunt of it.

My kids don't, he does. So if we're struggling or if we're not really in a good, you know, we don't have a good equilibrium going, then, Everything else struggles, so I, I needed something that would allow me to give him more of my [00:11:00] time because I, I wasn't able to give that to him when I was pushing and pushing and pushing my Laurel Tree and Me business.

Krissy: it sounds like it. So tell me what some of your tips are for having a healthy marriage going with these little, little ones. Cause I'm just like, I feel like a step behind you, right? I'm

Mary: Yeah, yeah, yes,

Krissy: coming out of this like baby phase. So tell me the

Mary: yeah. So there's one thing that, We always said that we would do and we're not perfect. We go through periods where we don't do it. But one thing that I've always wanted to stick to with him is every night before we go to bed, it does not matter how mad we are at each other. We say one thing that we love about each other.

Now sometimes I'm saying it through gritted teeth and I'm like, don't look at me, but I'll say it anyways. But that's one way to kind of help break the ice. You don't want to go to bed upset with each other.

Krissy: That's great. I like that one a

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: an easy one to maintain.

Mary: Yes, [00:12:00] yes, it is. And I'm very stubborn, so he's very good with giving me some grace.

Sometimes he has to pull it out of me, but I'll do it.

Krissy: My thing that I'm working on right now with my husband is to stop saying, are you mad at me?

Mary: Oh.

Krissy: I feel like I say it all the time. Like, are you mad at me? Cause I'm so, I'm like self conscious that things are slipping. Like I didn't

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: at all. And they are disgusting. Like just what

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: are still on me to the point

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: like go to the sink.

And so he gets out of

Mary: Right.

Krissy: to do them. And I know that. That's annoying.

Mary: Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Krissy: that I couldn't do them. He's not

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: at me,

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: is yes. Yes.

Mary: Yeah, he's home, he's tired, he doesn't want to do them. Nobody wants to do them.

Krissy: too. Absolutely. So I'm trying to stop saying [00:13:00] that. That's my latest goal. And it's

Mary: That's a good one.

Krissy: a bad habit. So

Mary: Yeah, I'll have to pay attention and see if I say that to him too, because I feel, I feel like a lot of people might.

Krissy: right. Yeah. And then and recognizing that, like, people are allowed to be mad. That's a very total emotional reaction to have. And you like, what do I want him to say? Do I want him to say yes? Like,

Mary: yeah,

Krissy: outcome? Then we're going to

Mary: yeah, yeah, yes.

Krissy: thing is?

Like, that's not good either, so

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: asking?

Mary: Well, and they always say it's never, it's never the dishes. If there's a fight that comes about, it's something else deeper.

Krissy: Exactly, yeah. And I hear what you're saying. The kids feel it. They feel the tension. They feel those

Mary: Oh yes.

Krissy: able to give your time to dedicate to maintaining that connection, I mean, I do think that we're in kind of a friend spot roommate spot at this point, mostly friend

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: but,

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: like [00:14:00] not putting pressure on ourselves to go deeper into that.

Like exploring, it's just hard. We just, we have a

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: year old and it's just hard and they

Mary: It's very hard.

Krissy: there. We'll figure it out.

Mary: Yep. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. As long as you guys have like a mutual understanding of what phase of life you guys are in right now, and a mutual respect and, and, this sucks right now, but, well, it doesn't last forever, then that's a good place to be in.

Krissy: I think that too. I, we, we feel very comfortable and confident in our relationship. And it's so funny

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: like you have to defend or what you have

Mary: Yes.

Krissy: to people. And it's like, it's fine,

Mary: I feel like a lot of people in our generation, we're, we over explain ourselves. And I know for me it trickles into my marriage, my husband's like, Mary, like, I get it, you told me ten times. And I'm like, I feel like the reason why I keep explaining is cause I'm just, I need affirmation to know that like, I'm not [00:15:00] upsetting you, or like, I, I don't want you to be unhappy.

We're, we're pleasers.

Krissy: right? Yes. We are fixers and we are pleasers. Yes.

Mary: Yes, I feel that to my core.

Krissy: One thing that I came to realize when I'm asking him that or thinking them, that is I'm trying to find a connection. Like maybe it's coldness that I'm feeling, or maybe I'm feeling a

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: So one thing we've decided, or I've decided, I shouldn't say we, I mean, is that at the dinner table, when I'm feeling that, cause that's typically where I'm feeling it.

Like, I feel like

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: in his head reflecting and I am too.

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: to lean into small talk and try to it for my three year old. Like,

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: your favorite color? Like something super basic that you don't

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: olds that conversation like it does it

Mary: Right,

Krissy: stupid and silly, but

Mary: yeah,

Krissy: it.

Mary: I like that a lot. See, my, I never saw conflict with my parents growing up. [00:16:00] They, I think I remember one time I ever saw them fight. So as much as it was nice seeing a peaceful home, I never learned like conflict resolution or, or, Or do people fight and actually make up and everything's okay after?

Like, I never knew any of that. So I've had to learn that as an adult. And it's so different when you have little eyes watching you, because just like what you had growing up, you're giving them that, that exposure. So it's like, you're trying to keep your husband happy, yourself happy, make sure your kids grow up and they're okay.

Krissy: I know.

Mary: It's a lot.

Krissy: It is a lot of pressure. We have a lot of things this mental load is

Mary: Yeah, mm hmm.

Krissy: you do with your kids? Like let me let me hear about your typical day with these two little ones. 

Mary: We love Target, so, Usually if I say, if we don't have anything planned for the day My daughter wants to go to Target. They want to [00:17:00] get a cake pop at Starbucks. That's usually, that's usually our go to if we have nothing planned, but anything outdoors, I just need to be outside, and one goal that I've set for myself, and I really leaned into it a lot last year, is like, Taking the time to go outside, no matter how cold it is, because it gets cold here in New England just being outside even for a half hour, ten minutes, it makes such a difference.

So, whether it's playing in the sandbox, we have chickens, chasing the chickens around outside, going to the park, meeting up with other friends, I mean, There's always something that you can do.

Krissy: sounds like you get out, which is great. I agree with you about the weather. I think even on rainy days, we love to go outside and jump in muddy puddles like Peppa Pig.

Mary: yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. If you're following any of my social medias, there are consistent videos of me running around in torrential downpours with my kids, because growing up, if it was raining, my siblings and [00:18:00] I, we'd go outside and shampoo our hair under the gutters when it was pouring. And so, I, I try to do that with my kids.

Krissy: I'm going to have to try that because my three year old hates getting his hair washed, but

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: really fun way to turn that around.

Mary: It's a great icebreaker. I have friends all the time that are like, I never even thought of that. My neighbors are looking at us like we're crazy, but it's, it makes the best, like, wholesome memories. So I, yeah, that's one thing I love.

Krissy: seems very wholesome. And I just, it's funny because I get self conscious sometimes thinking about what are my neighbors thinking of us. And, Typically, what they're thinking is, that's so cute.

Mary: Yes. Yeah.

Krissy: watching it because if they're older, they remember the time with their kids or

Mary: Yep. Yep.

Krissy: like noticing the little kids.

It's just so cute,

Mary: Exactly. And I, I have neighbors that are older, their kids are all out of the house. I have one who's just like a single guy next door. Well, he's not single [00:19:00] anymore, but he wants to have a family and they both have made comments. They're like, we just love hearing like you guys outside playing. Like, it's just, it, it feels good for the soul.

Krissy: right?

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: With them, like nobody wants to go outside and look at the two kids running around and the mom on their phone or whatever,

Mary: Oh yeah.

Krissy: see the mom chasing them.

Mary: Yes. Yes, exactly. Oh, those are, those are the times to make those memories with your kids. And you know, as much as it's hard to put your phone down that's the stuff that's going to stick with you too.

Krissy: absolutely. Yes. I mean, there's a healthy balance. Like we are living in a great phase where you can have that instant connection with people when you need it. So you don't have to feel so alone and isolated, but don't worry about the people watching you when you want it when you're going to play monster or pick up those

Mary: Right,

Krissy: pretend you're doing swords or whatever.

Mary: right. Yeah, people aren't gonna look at you and judge you on that, and that's something I struggle with, too. I have a hard time sometimes [00:20:00] having imagination or being silly with my kids. My, my husband, he's like the fun dad. He can pretend to be whatever you want him to be. So it's a good way to challenge myself to let the guard down and know that people are looking and there's no judgment coming from them.

They're, they're probably remembering those days or looking forward to having those days.

Krissy: I definitely, and we love going to Target too. My kids favorite thing to do is they go to the SEGAs because my husband has only taught them that all video games are SEGAs.

Mary: Sounds like my husband.

Krissy: So we go back and they play Mario Kart or something where they're just holding the remote and, or we go to the mall and there's little cars outside of the

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: to go to Target at the mall and really what they mean are like the ride on cars that we don't even put money in. They

Mary: Yeah. Yeah.

Krissy: them.

Mary: Yeah. I love that. I love that. See, and that's the stuff they're gonna remember.

Krissy: Huh. Mm hmm. Like my

Mary: And then their kids will think there's only SIGAs too.

Krissy: [00:21:00] think they're saying is and they won't realize that the cars at the mall actually move when you put

Mary: Yes, yes. Hahaha. They don't need to know.

Krissy: Nope. Nope. so fun keeping these little like, like all those little things like they have so much fun as it is like don't ruin the

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: guess that's what it

Mary: Yep.

Krissy: imaginative magic.

Mary: For sure, for sure.

Krissy: are your kids into right now?

Mary: My daughter, my five year old, she thinks she's a mermaid. So anything involving mermaids, anything putting her in the water, they have these bathing suits that you can buy on Amazon for little girls. It's a bathing suit, but it also comes with like a mermaid tail that's bathing suit material.

So she always wants a mermaid bath where she can put her mermaid tail on and it'll occupy her for hours. And my, my son, he's all trucks. Any vehicle, any truck, which has been actually great for me because one of my products that I sell on Amazon are kids like [00:22:00] building blocks. And so those like, I mean, he plays with them for hours, just loading his truck up and dumping them out.

It's, it's been great.

Krissy: It's so amazing how those blocks are my cause my kids do the exact same thing. They they take they go to them.

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: I'm I'm not like a block kid. I I don't remember playing with blocks, so I was like, well, hopefully they like them. Like

Mary: Right.

Krissy: Little boys love blocks so I bought the set and they pull it out like every day and like

Mary: I love that.

Krissy: and they're bulldozing it and like, I didn't show

Mary: Yes,

Krissy: They just know

Mary: right, and it's great too because we went on a couple like summer trips this summer and you don't realize like when you go away not every place you stay at is going to have stuff for kids, so I grabbed some trucks, grabbed my blocks, and I mean they were good for the whole vacation.

Krissy: that's perfect. Yes. And you bring them to the beach or whatever. That's

Mary: Easy, yeah. Mm hmm.

Krissy: the way to go. If your kids get into trucks, you're good. You're set.

Mary: Oh, it's [00:23:00] great. And I don't, I mean, even not just trucks, but if I'm playing outside and my son is in a bad mood or whatever, I just open up my car and let him play around in it. And I mean, he'll do it for hours. I mean, I feel bad because he's honking the horn and the neighbors, but he's just happy sitting in a car, not being seat belted in a car, but if he can have free range, it's a whole new thing.

Krissy: My dad has a Volkswagen Beetle. My mom used to have a truck and has something different now, but when they would come over, it's all my three year old wants to do is go

Mary: Yeah,

Krissy: or into the car and just

Mary: yeah,

Krissy: and the buttons and figure out how

Mary: yeah,

Krissy: hood. It's so cool.

Mary: I know my dad he's in his glory because he restores antique cars and My brother I only have one brother so growing up. He really was not into cars He is now but he wasn't as a kid. So my dad really missed out on being able to like share his hobby with him. Now, my son, I mean, he's [00:24:00] in the garage with him the whole time.

He's visiting his grandfather just because he's anything, anything with wheels cars. That's where it's at.

Krissy: that sounds like a little boy's dream. That's amazing.

Mary: He doesn't know how lucky he is.

Krissy: he really doesn't. He has no idea because that, like, that's like going to a touch a truck every visit with Grandpa.

Mary: I know. Well, it's funny you say that because we were going to go to one this weekend. My husband's like, why? Just go to your dad's house. He can sit on the lawnmower. He'll be happy.

Krissy: yes, we just got a new lawnmower and we sold our old one, but we almost didn't sell it. We were like, let's just keep it on the lawn. Let's just keep it in the backyard as a decoration and they can play on it.

Mary: Yeah. Oh, they love it. They love it.

Krissy: it was broken, we probably would have kept it, but it was still fine. So it was hard to

Mary: Yeah.

Krissy: maybe, but maybe we should be on the lookout for like a freebie on the side of the

Mary: Oh, they're, they're online all the time. I'm sure you could find one.

Krissy: that's a great idea. 

 [00:25:00] 

I hope you liked having this option of two different smaller episodes of one really great story so that way you could listen to them all in one chunk if you wanted to. Let me know what you think. I'm really looking forward to hearing your feedback.

I hope that you'll join me for our next episode and for our next bonus episode. See you next time! 

 

Mom Identity Project https://momidentityproject.com
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