My creative space is in a bit of a state this week.
You see, MoederKip is relocating to a new house (more on that in another post), and so much time has been spent preparing for the move.
Of course when you're packing, it involves sorting through the dark recesses of cupboards that you don't normally access in your day-to-day life. And in the process you uncover (recover) lots of memories.
One of my jobs this week was to sort through all of Bradley's old baby clothes to see if there was anything we could get rid of (not an easy task - it's amazing how connected you feel to a box of vomit-stained onesies!).
And then I came across a bag of his cloth nappies. And I found this one (shown here, modelled by the WonderBoy himself at 3 months of age).
Now, aside from being a good opportunity for a gratuitous display of cuteness, there is a reason I'm showing you this picture.
This was the first nappy I made, and I was just beside myself with joy that I had made something for my baby that was cute, and practical, and one-of-a-kind.
(note: I was also somewhat high on all those maternal hormones, so that could also have something to do with the events that followed!)
At the time I was on maternity leave, and was so worried about how I'd ever be able to leave him to go back to work. And I started dreaming about going into business for myself. I'd make and sell nappies from home. And then maybe open a shop. And then I was going to sell nappy making supplies, and run workshops, and have a little 'henhouse' where people could come together to talk, and craft, and learn.
Unfortunately, the novelty wore off somewhat and I soon discovered that there were people out there who were actually much better than I at making nappies.
However Paul and I weren't fully prepared to let go of the dream of crafting our way to independence.
And so we re-evaluated what we were good at, and what we did enjoy. And we spoke to people, and read blogs, and took a critical look at the realities of running a craft-based business.
And we realised that it was a tough industry, with a high rate of business failure. And so we did what any sensible person would do.
We spoke to an accountant, and MoederKip was born.
Post Script:
In case you were wondering, yes, I did keep the nappy. When business is tough, as it so often is, something so tangible to remind you of why you're doing this is a precious thing to have.
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