Healthy Mum, Happy Baby

When I recently discovered MealBaby and wrote about it for the first edition of yoyobelly I was thrilled. Food really is one of the best things you can give a new mum. To whit, two friends recently had babies, Nher third, H her second.

For N we used MailBaby. The meal registry really did make things easier. The registrants got an email asking them to sign up for a day and choose a meal. We could see what others were bringing – it really did up the competitive factor – plus it meant N didn’t get four spaghetti dinners. Her address, contact info and likes and dislikes were all laid out. N got an email each day saying who was bringing what, and we got reminder emails that we’d promised a meal too. It meant P, who arranged it all, just spent about 20 minutes organizing the info and hey presto, it was done.

For H her friend C arranged everything. Because I recently had to go without my computer for a few weeks while it was in the shop some of the emails went AWOL. I had to ask her twice to send their likes and dislikes, plus I didn’t have their address or phone # and the dates were all up in the air. I’m guessing organizing it has taken C a lot more time and backing and forthing with people.

The thing is, when you already have kids, it’s actually quite hard to make a meal for another family in the sense of finding time to make it, to take it by etc.  So anything that makes that easier has got to be good.

MealBaby probably had added appeal to me because I suggest a “food shower” in Healthy Mum, Happy Baby, so I’m already on that train anyhow. Plus I’m all for anything that saves time.

Now if they could just combine MealBaby’s registry with SpringPad’s organizational and menu tools that would be something special!

When Nayla Natural Care contacted us about reviewing TruKid products on yoyomama, owner Gwen also said she’d first picked up Healthy Mum, Happy Baby at the library, and then bought a copy for herself and wanted to review it. Imagine how chuffed I was when she sent me her review last October, and it was glowing. I love when people totally “get” what I was trying to do with the book, and Gwen did.

I recently did an interview with Canadian site Mommyagogo about being an entrepreneurial mum. As I usually interview entrepreneurial mamas for yoyomama, it was interesting being on the other side of the page. In addition to the interview, Mommyagogo also has three copies of Healthy Mum to give away and two recipes from the book on the site (in case you want to try before you buy!)

Mommyagogo is for mums in Guelph, Kitchener and Waterloo, but it’s worth checking out, for the recipes and book reviews alone…but seriously, they do have lots of great info.

In my capacity as yoyomama I was on CityTV today with tips & tricks for getting kids ready for preschool. All the info’s on the site in the archives: www.yoyomama.ca and you can sign up for a free daily email with helpful, hip info for mums to be sent directly to your inbox as well.

From the July 8th issue of the Vancouver Province:

It was three in the morning.

New mom Annemarie Tempelman-Kluit found herself wandering around the house, ravenously hungry, wondering if she could stand to eat another container of yogurt or another healthy cookie or bowl of cereal. Again.

“It’s awful!” she says. “People tell you a lot of stuff about having a baby, but nobody tells you what to do after you have the baby. Nobody told me I’d be that hungry, or that thirsty. You don’t realize how little time you’re going to have. I thought there had to be a better way.”

>> Read Full Story

From the July 5th issue of the Georgia Straight:

Hands up anyone who’s breast-feeding. Something of a challenge when one arm is around the little one and the other is propping open your eyelids. Local author Annemarie Tempelman-Kluit has been there and done that, which is why she penned the enormously practical Healthy Mum, Happy Baby: How to Feed Yourself When You’re Breastfeeding Your Baby (Random House Canada, $25) for the real–rather than the mythical–yummy mummy. Mother of two youngsters, Tempelman-Kluit brings honesty and humour to a neglected topic: how to keep you and your family well – fed when you’re starving and sleep deprived. Breakfast smoothies to almost-instant pizzas–it’s all here, along with reassurance from other moms and even light-reading lists. Skip the hand-embroidered diaper bag and give this to new parents, along with the URL of Tempelman-Kluit’s hip new, locally focused and reality-based newsletter and Web site, Yoyomama.ca, aimed at those who don’t plan to put their two-year-old in a designer bikini.

This week past I launched a new website, yoyomama.ca. Offering a free weekday email newsletter, the website is for every Vancouver mother (or mother-to-be) of a newborn to five-year-old, who’s ever called the community centre two days too late to register her offspring for the must-have class of the season, wandered the aisles of the bookstore wondering which book will make her baby brainiest, or wished she’d known just how child-friendly a coffee shop was (or wasn’t) before she ordered her latte.

It’s designed to make mum’s lives less yoyo-like by keeping them connected to themselves and their community with short hits of helpful, hip info delivered directly to their inboxes.

Check it out: www.yoyomama.ca, spread the word & let me know what you think! My mum, who’s one of my biggest supporters, thinks it’s good for grandparents as well in terms of gift ideas, or events & things & places they can go with the grandkids. Not the original intention, but hey, it works for me!

Or at least tuned to the radio & TV if you want to hear more about Healthy Mum, Happy Baby.

On Monday the 14th I’ll be on on CFAX Radio in Victoria live from 4:30 to 5:00 with Rebecca Scott. I’m not sure if it’s a full 1/2 hour or not, I’ll keep you posted. The call # is 1070, but I’m not sure if it’s am or fm. You can listen live online if you’re not in Victoria however.

On Tuesday morning I’ll be doing two six-minute segments on Breakfast Television between 9:00 am and 10:00 am so if you’re able to tune in then I’d love your feedback.

There are two tickets left for the Barbara Jo’s event on Wednesday night. What do you get for $70? A chance to see me cook and talk at the same time which could be interesting on so many levels…plus a me-cooked meal, which I’m not going to divulge yet, but should be delicious, and a copy of the book, which I will, of course sign. Call the store: 604.688.6755 if you’re interested!

There may be more coming up next week, so check back to this post for updates! And thanks for everyone’s support & feedback!

May 10, 2007
24 Hours
Yummy Mummy

This is a little bit hard to read, so if you scroll down on the website you can find it here under Yummy Mummy!