We love you Milton Keynes

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I have failed miserably to keep up with the blog.  Last weekend was manic, with the BabyExpo in Milton Keynes and the Mumpreneur Business Awards.

The BabyExpoUK exhibited for the first time in Milton Keynes rather than it's usual Brighton home.  After a long drive with a car full of stock, Toddler and weekend bags, we arrived on Friday afternoon ready to set up the stand for the weekend.  The Expo was held in the main shopping centre: thecentremk.  What a fantastic venue.  The organisers, Suzanne and Mel from Whats on 4, did a remarkable job and by 9am on Saturday morning, the whole area was alive and buzzing, full of bright, colourful stands.

Saturday was busy with a steady stream of customers.  Thankfully, the lovely Jana of Spotty Dot who had a stand next to me, was on hand to keep an eye on the TT stand whilst I grabbed toilet and coffee breaks.  It is well worth checking out her website and looking at her gorgeous soft toys and rattles.  She also does a fantastic range of handmade t-shirts. 

There were also lots of things happening on the stage including talks by the lovely Annabel Karmel and sleep expert Jo Tantum.

On Sunday, Nanny Tyke manned the stand for me whilst I headed off to the Mumpreneur Business Awards (more on that in the next blog).  Although quieter on the Sunday, Nanny Tyke still did a roaring trade - especially in our fab slipper socks.  There are going to be an awful lot of warm toesies in Milton Keynes this winter!

A big thank you goes out to the lovely Gillian of Mojo Maternity who was on the other side of us.  She specialises in maternity wear for both taller and bigger ladies.  Gillian herself is tall which was a blessing to Nanny Tyke who will quite happily describe herself as 'vertically challenged'.  The layout of the stand meant that Nanny didn't stand a chance of being able to break it down on her own at the end of the Expo without a ladder, or the help of Gilllian and her husband.  If you know any tall pregnant ladies, I would most definitely recommend checking out her website.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.  We spread the Tykes Tights love and met so many wonderful mums, dads, nannies, grandads and little ones.  This is one event that we will be putting in our diary for next year! 

To sleep or not to sleep...

So, at the grand old age of 3, Toddler has gone for his very first sleepover!  He, of course, was very excited about it.  I'm doing ok - I think!

With such a busy week coming up including the MK baby expo and the Mumpreneur conference and awards, my to-do list is as long as my arm.  This hasn't been helped by the fact that Toddler's nursery was closed last week so I got very little achieved.

One of my lovely mummy friends jumped to the rescue and offered to have Toddler to give me a bit of peace and space to get some work done.  Her son is the same age and they have known each other since they were both tiny.

So, here I am.  Toddler-less.  Forutunately, I have been getting regular text updates and know that Toddler is having a fabulous time.  I have achieved a huge amount in the few hours that he has been gone so all is good.  I'm not concerned about Toddler not being able to settle or getting upset as he often stays away from home when he goes to his Daddy's house.  This, however, is still a huge step in growing up - staying overnight with people who are not his family.  Aw, my little boy is growing up!

So, no bedtime routine to think about, no listening out in the night, no 7am alarm clock.  Sounds great but I still can't wait to see him tomorrow!

Going for Gold!

Now that the news has sunk in a little bit, I can start to think rationally again.

Yesterday, we found out that Tykes Tights had got through to the final of the Mumpreneur UK awards.  It is the first award that we have ever entered and I didn’t think for one minute that we would get this far. 

Finalists were due to be announced on Wednesday and I spent most of the day refreshing my twitter and facebook feeds for updates only to find out that due to the larger numbers of applicants, results day would now be Friday.

So, yesterday, back to refreshing every few minutes until I saw a twitter post saying that finalist emails had been sent out.  I kept looking at my phone for the green flashy light to tell me that I had  a new email.  I wasn’t surprised when it didn’t come.  Afterall, out of all the small businesses in the country, it was unlikely that I would be recognised on my very first attempt.  I wasn’t disappointed as it was kind of what I was expecting.  I had looked through lists of previous finalists from 2011 and 2010 and recognised a lot of names and companies – people who had really made their mark – it was quite daunting.

A little later, I fired up the laptop.  Seems my email and my phone aren’t talking to each other properly as there, in my inbox, was an email from Mumpreneur UK!  Shock, excitement, confusion, panic – I think I went through a whole range of emotions in those first few minutes.

The email explained that over 1200 businesses had applied for the awards.  That’s a lot of application forms to go through!  There are 9 categories and 8 finalists have been chosen for each category.  Tykes Tights has made it to the ‘Best Mumpreneur Product’ category which is primarily for mums who have invented their own product (another reason I didn’t think we would get this far) but is also for mum’s who have brought a unique product to market.

Now we have a month to wait!  Good news is that I get to go to a fantastic conference next month, listen to some inspirational women and pick up lots of information and advice.  All this will be washed down with a lovely 3 course meal and the day will end with the award winners being chosen and prizes being given out.  Can’t wait! 

I have now got to submit some paperwork and sample products to the judges.  I have to tell them why Tykes Tights deserves to win.  I need to impress the likes of Jo Elvin (Editor in Chief of Glamour magazine) and Vanessa Gold (MD of Ann Summers). 

No matter what happens on the day, whether we walk away with an award or not, I am completely honoured and overwhelmed at having got this far and that Tykes Tights has been recognised as one of the top mumpreneur companies in the whole of the UK!

 Boy’s tights rule!