The Thermal Trials - Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I put out a request for testers.  Tykes Tights are introducing a range of thermal wear for the whole family and I needed to know whether the stock I had in mind was going to be up to the job.

Based in the UK, our suppliers manufacture the stock locally, meaning that we have no huge shipping costs, customs fees or bank charges to worry about.  This is great news for the customer as we can offer really competitive prices on fantastic quality thermal wear.

So, what did our testers think?

Boy’s thermal long sleeved t-shirt - £6.95

“Size wise as an age 3-5 it was pretty generous. Will wears a size 4-5 long sleeved t-shirt normally and the thermal vest was longer in the arm and lovely and long to keep his bum warm! I really liked the cuff on the sleeve and the material was lovely and soft.

I layered a short sleeve t-shirt over the top as I would with a normal white tee and it looked fine.

He was warm around the house with no heating on and very toasty out and about. I forgot his gloves and he didn't once moan his hands were cold like he normally would.

It is a lovely soft and warm higher than normal quality thermal top that I would definitely recommend.” (Lee-Ann S)

Thank you to Lee-Ann and Will for testing for us. 

Next up...how did Paul fair with the men's longjohns?

Too much information?

I have often wondered how much of ‘me’ I should reveal to my virtual audience. 

I follow blogs, tweets and facebook updates of friends, aquaintances, colleagues and people I admire.  Some of those I know really well in real life.  Some of them I may have met once or twice and some of them I have never met.  Quite disturbingly, it is some of the people that I rarely ‘know’ that I actually feel like I know the most.  God, that makes me sound like a stalker – I’m not.

It is very easy in our virtual world to ‘follow’ the lives of practically anyone we choose.  Pick a person, any person and you could probably use the internet to discover their address, phone number, date of birth, names of family members, what they do for a living, where they shop etc.  You don’t need to be a master criminal to discover this information.  Millions of people every day are sharing this stuff openly for all to access.

My facebook page has recently been full of people updating, through their iphones, their current location.  ‘Bob’ has checked in at Pizza hut.  Fab.  Thanks Bob.  Why would I want to know this, or even more to the question, why would they want me to know this?  Why would anybody want to publically advertise the fact that they are out of the house, probably for a good hour at least?  Check the rest of their profile, photos or another social media outlet and you could probably find out where they live and where they keep their most valuable possessions.  Perfect burglary information.

Don’t even get me started on the updates that tell us all when so and so is going on holiday and when they are back. 

I still don’t know how much of me to reveal to the world.  When does ‘sharing’ your life on-line actually become ‘living’ your life on-line?  As a teacher, I was ‘miss’ in front of the class and a completely different person in the privacy of my own home.  I played a character at work.  Do I play a character on-line? 

Social media is the way forward for business.  I am fully aware of that.  How do you use social media to get to know others without leaving yourself open and vulnerable?  Is it a case of less is more?  How much do people really want to know about the real me?  There is a real living, breathing person behind the TT logo.  I am Tykes Tights.  But I am also me.  Where does one end and the other begin?

Going Thermal!

It has been a busy week at TT HQ, with lots of phone calls, meetings and wheeling and dealing.  The result?  Tykes Tights will proudly be retailers of thermal underwear for boys, right through from age 2 up to age 13.  We can’t wait!

So far, in our catalogue of thermals, we have boys long pants, t-shirts and long sleeved tops.  And it’s not just about the boys – what about matching thermals for dad too?

Our men’s range contains the same items as the boys as well as three quarter length long johns – perfect for those men who don’t want to risk their long johns being spotted around sock level!

Our thermal wear is British made and manufactured by a company in Leicester.  All stock comes directly from the factory meaning that we are able to provide the customer with both fantastic quality and fantastic value for money.   Over the next few weeks, some Tykes customers have kindly offered to ‘test-drive’ a few of the items for us.  We can’t wait to see what they think.  We will, of course, publish all results here on our blog and website for you all to read.

Mutterings

My best blogs float around in my head late at night when I am trying to sleep.  They are word perfect, inspirational and informative.  When I wake up, they are gone.

A day in the life of a Tight wearing Tyke!

Like mother, like son. Every morning in this house starts in the same way. A nice cup of tea! Toddler Tyke adopted this routine several months ago. Not that you can really call his ‘tea’, more like milk with a hint of tea but he likes it all the same.

Mornings are always busy, whether it be swimming, play dates, tumble tots, baby and toddler group or a day at nursery, we seem to do a lot of rushing around. Time to get dressed and Toddler Tyke is already developing his own sense of style. He will quite readily tell me what he is or is not prepared to wear, usually by throwing offending garments on to the floor. Today was relatively easy, TT only pausing to ponder the merits of aeroplane tights over sports tights. He chose the aeroplanes.

After a hasty breakfast, we don our coats and set off with the buggy, to our new toddler group. En route, we collect a little buddy and accompanying nanny. Toddler Tyke has boundless energy which we try to use up in the mornings. Whilst he runs off to be the first to find the toy screwdriver, I settle down to chat with the other mummys. Today, I saw a look of horror and disgust at the mere mention of boy’s tights. I know that some people don’t ‘get it’ but really! Just 5 minutes later, my faith in Tykes Tights was restored when another mummy announced that not only would she be placing an order with me, but she had cancelled her own tights delivery from Germany(courtesy of her mother who lives there). Success!

Quick dash home in the rain and time for lunch. Ask Toddler Tyke what he would like on his sandwich and the answer is always the same – choc choc. Hmmmm, chocolate spread. I blame my mother for this, although my husband blames me for passing sweet tooth genes onto our son. With the blatant lack of choc choc in the larder, banana sandwich and yoghurt is the order of the day.

By 1 o’clock, Toddler Tyke has had enough and it is off to his cot for a nap. Cue much rushing around by mummy Tyke who uses this time to process orders from the website, answer emails, sort stock and try to catch up with the housework.

Once awake, cuddled and watered, Toddler Tyke is ready to start the second part of his day. This often includes a walk to the post office with a return trip via the ‘gark’ to play on the swings. Today’s weather has been bitterly cold and I am sure that Toddler Tyke is enjoying the comfort of warm little leggies.

After helping mummy to prepare dinner (and taste testing everything first!), it’s time to wait for daddy before sitting down to eat. By this point of the day, trousers have usually been flung to one side and Toddler Tyke is enjoying the freedom of movement without denim constraints. No cold leggies though as those aeroplanes are still doing a great job.

We don’t have 6 o’clock in this house. We have rough and tumble time. At least Toddler and Daddy Tyke do. I stay out of the way! From the safety of the kitchen, I often listen to shrieks of laughter and squeals of delight mixed in with several lion roars or tickle fingers. Only when it goes quiet, do I dare to venture into the lion’s den.

Half past six, calm restored, milk consumed and the all important question of the day answered – are we riding the Ninky Nonk or the Pinky Ponk, Toddler Tyke climbs the stairs ready for his bath and bed. By seven o’clock all is quiet. Toddler Tyke chatting sleepily to his teddies, Mummy Tyke heading for the lap top to catch up on orders and Daddy Tyke opening the much needed ‘Plinky Plonk Juice’! Our Tykes day is done. Ready to start all over again in the morning. Ready to choose between the pirate tights or the cars. I wonder…

Tights for boys at last!

Yay! It has been a month now since we launched Tykes Tights and began our mission to bring warm legs to the young male population of Britain and I am totally relieved to say that month 1 was a success!

We even attended our first baby show and met some fantastic people. Whoever said tights for boys was a silly idea, should have taken a look at the hoardes of people surrounding our stall and flinging their cash in my direction (ok, it might not have been quite like that but I like the image it creates). It was, however, a very successful day and one of our first steps into getting Tykes Tights on the map.

We have got lots more to look forward to this month too, with more baby shows, our joint leaflet being printed and some more stock being added to the website.

Tykes Tights has turned out to be a real family affair. Mr Tyke was fab at chatting to all the customers at the baby show, and persuading the daddies that tights rock. Toddler Tyke has been hard at work too on the advertising. His major role last week was to wear his aeroplane and football tights at different social occasions. He made quite sure that fellow tumble tots got a good peek at his legwear before our last session!

Did you know that we also have knee socks for boys? They are currently on our facebook shop but will hopefully be making an appearance in a range of sizes on our main site very soon. BTW, shipping via our fb shop is free!

So, Tykes Tights have been released from their plastic prison and are loose on the streets of Britain. Keep your eyes peeled, those fab socks worn by that boy in the buggy might actually go all the way up!

Back to school

September the first has always been one of those dates that you don’t look forward to. September the first signifies the end of the summer break and the start of the madness at work. My husband packed his school bag, cleaned his shoes and ironed his shirts ready for this momentous date. Where does the summer go?

Although not returning to teaching this year, September the first was still a date etched into my mind. Throughout August, every time I thought about September the first, I felt those familiar feelings – nervousness, anxiousness, excitement, with a hint of anticipation. The same things I have been feeling for the last 13 years. Only this time, my husband was the only one going back to school.

September the first was the first day of Tykes Tights. The day we opened our virtual doors to the public and invited them in for a browse. The day we started to sell tights for boys. (and quite predictably, the sunniest and warmest day for quite a while!)

What do you do the day your website goes live? As tempting as it is to sit there watching your computer, waiting for that all important message to arrive stating that an order has been made, I just couldn’t do it. My stomach was churning. At least in the classroom, I am in control. Now, I have none. I can’t force people to buy my tights, no matter how many lesson plans I write or how many detention threats I issue! My solution – walk. I packed Toddler Tyke into his buggy and walked. We walked miles! We walked and walked. Well I walked, Toddler Tyke sat. After a play on the swings and slide, we walked some more. In fact we would still be walking had our stomachs not reminded us that lunchtime was around the corner. We walked home.

The feeling you get when that very first order is made is fantastic! Similar to the feeling you get when you have spent half a lesson explaining something over and over and the child suddenly ‘gets’ it. Within seconds of the order coming through, I was printing off an invoice and packaging it up. After lunch, we walked. We walked the 2 miles to the post office and back. I had to send off my first order. Very important to give speedy service to my customers.

September the first wasn’t without its problems. The night before, my wonderful web designer had been up half the night sorting out issues that had arisen at the eleventh hour. I expected teething problems and by gum, have we had some (sorry Jodie!). I am still learning.

I may not have returned to the classroom this year, but with the learning curve I am currently on, I am definitely back at school.