Art by Lisa Condon

This past week, I had the pleasure of flipping the script and interviewing mother, writer, and editor of The Chic, Nancy Rahman.

What inspires me the most about Nancy and The Chic are the subjects she tackles from parenting and wellness to conscious life and entrepreneurship. I find as I grow older, I am hit with an insatiable desire to learn, and The Chic is an incredible place to go and expand your knowledge and learn something new.

With all the areas that The Chic covers, I wanted to discover what excites and motivates Nancy and dig into her advice on motherhood.

I hope you enjoy the Q&A below! 

Q. The Chic covers so many great topics from wellness to entrepreneurship to culture and parenting—what inspires you the most?

A. All the topics that we discuss on The Chic are a reflection of my own and our team and writer's lifestyle choices and approaches to life. Our biggest and most inspiring goal is to encourage kindness and empowerment. We do this through different categories in our content, using a consistent goal and voice. We are kind to the planet and encourage, empower others to embrace sustainability, for example. Or highlight topics of self-care by featuring experts who empower the reader with ways to better your career, health, anxiety, or general human relationship struggles. Parenting- we empower parents to use approaches that revolve around kindness- so as you can see, I am inspired by the overall consistent message that's carries throughout every single article on all verticals and categories. Right now, however, I am having a lot of fun featuring entrepreneurs as our modern mentors. We built this vertical to help aspiring entrepreneurs navigate their entrepreneurial journey by accessing achieved and successful entrepreneurial advice - through their challenges and success.

Q. You grew up in Egypt and are raising your children in America. What aspects of your upbringing or cultural heritage do you most wish to pass along to your children?

A. Language. Every day, I go through the guilt of not speaking to them in Arabic enough or exposing them to enough Arabic culture (music/media). I hope that they will pick up the language somehow along their development! On the other hand, I was raised to be grateful despite ambition, and I try every day to teach them gratefulness, a cultural element that's very important in the Arab community and frequently used in conversation and by all religions/sects. We call it 'Hamdulla'!

Q. I love the idea of teaching kids to appreciate quality over quantity, and that everything you acquire should serve a purpose. What products do you love the most?

A. When it comes to toys- my boys spend a lot of time on their Magna-tiles building and never get bored. It's one of the few toys that they have. It also grows with the child and can serve a purpose during each milestone. For myself, I always buy good quality leather items and James Perse t-shirts that last through several seasons without losing color or structure. I use face oils at night that acts as a hair oil, nail cuticle oil and feet. On my face, a tinted lip and cheek balm like the one from Mineral Lip Fusion Lastly, in the kitchen, I am a big fan of the beeswax wraps (beeswax wraps amazon), they work and are long-lasting- I've been using them for over a year now, and they still work!

Q. In The Chic, you often start your Modern Mentors interviews off with a favorite quote. What is your favorite quote that pertains to motherhood?

A. "Patience is Bitter. But it's fruit is sweet" - Aristotle. - on challenging yourself to be patient when raising children, starting a business, or self-work.

Warmly,

Natalie

PS. Read my Female Founder's interview at The Chic here! 

Read more

Halloween began around 2000 years ago as an ancient Celtic festival named Samhain. Samhain was the division of the year between the lighter half known as summer and the darker half known as winter. The Celts believed it was at this exact time the division between this world and the otherworld was at its thinnest, allowing spirits to pass through. To ward off those ghosts and spirits, they would light bonfires and wear frightful costumes. Centuries later this night would be known as All Hallows Eve, and soon “Halloween”.

With this history of bonfires, returning spirits and frightful costumes, it is no wonder this time of year can be scary for small children, who are still figuring this world out. 

Why is everything so scary? Is it real? Are you still you when you have a costume on?

This is a great time to talk it out, explain whats going on, what to expect and maybe avoid the Halloween aisle at Walgreens. 

If you child is comfortable with the concept of Halloween but the itchy costumes, you can use comfortable basics or even your child’s everyday clothes to make sensory friendly costumes. Pajamas are a great place to start or visit our website for our selection of soft, wearable, Snickerdoos costumes.

Storytelling encourages and stirs a child’s imagination, while also calming their bodies.

The wonderful thing about storytelling is the endless possibilities and adventures that can be created with your words and in a child’s mind. This magical listening experience keeps children entertained in a smart, screen-free way! (I know we are always looking for those!) And while you might not see yourself as a natural storyteller, children can be our least discerning of audiences, often captivated by the simplest or silliest of stories. Here are some tips to bring out the storyteller in yourself:

1. Make your child the lead or best supporting actor in the story! Maybe your story starts with your child and her favorite super-dog, Bugsy. Children get a kick out of imagining themselves or the characters they know in the story. 

2. Keep it simple. Story-time is often used for the purpose of unwind or signaling bedtime. Your stories can be a single event or account but just make sure to give a few details that children are familiar with like color, shape, or animal.  “Once upon a time there was a happy purple fish named Bob. He was very hungry so he went the the market to buy some food. That is when he bumped into a goldfish named Shirley. She was new to town. Bob and Shirley became great friends.” That simple! 

3. If fantasy doesn’t fly off your tongue, use stories you already know or possibly non-fiction from your own life or family! If the Three Little Bears is the story you know best, tell it! Children love familiarity and being able to predict and know what happens next.

4. Ask your child to participate—filling in details or deciding what happened next! Did the Unicorn go into the forest or to the mall? This is opportunity to encourage their creativity or confidence. 

So next time find yourself with your little one in quiet waiting room, or a too long airplane, or bedside, tell a story! 

Natalie 

Self-Dressing: A Stepping Stone to Independence

Watching my children learn to dress themselves will often bring me proud moments of seeing them discover their independence and personal style, other moments of laugher when they have their shoes on the wrong feet, and many moments that downright test my patience when I want to jump in and say, “let me just help you.” 

When we take a step back and examine all that is involved in self-dressing, we can see the incredible benefits that make it worth the little extra time and patience called upon. Self-dressing is a physiological and emotional milestone that can lead to a more confident, independent and coordinated child and that is why at Snickerdoos we love encouraging it! 

Below I explore some of the benefits of self-dressing, as well as share some tips! 

It all starts with a child’s discovery and selection of what they like and what they want to wear. What is their favorite color or style and how does it make them feel? Next comes the cognitive exercise and understanding the sequence of putting on clothing and to think of how seasons, temperatures and activities affect what should be worn. Lifting their arms up and legs in specific coordinated motions to get into shirts over head or pant legs on call upon gross motor skills. Sports aren’t the only exercise! ;) And then being able to use their fingers to manipulate small objects like zippers, buttons, laces, and buckles, they will be practicing their fine motor skills. 

With each step of self-dressing, frustrations can arise—clothes do not always fit the desired way or a child can become challenged by a pesky zipper or too tight sock. This is the time to offer praise, encouragement and helpful guidance, giving them the opportunity to show us and themselves that they can indeed do hard things. 

A few tips for supporting a self-dressing child: 

1. Offer Limited Choices: Offer a few appropriate choices from a few tops to a few bottoms. This will minimize the amount of time it can take a child to select an outfit. 
2. Minimize Frustrations: Look for loose fitting clothing and avoid zippers and laces for the early stages of self-dressing. 
3. Break Down the Tasks: Think about the steps to put on pair of pants and help by gently guiding them or offer an arm to balance on. 

At Snickerdoos, we love taking opportunities to encourage a child’s independence from experimenting with self-dressing to exploring pretend play. That is why all of our costumes are one-piece designs from easy pull overs tops to slip on rompers. No to limited parent participation needed here!