It can be a lot of pressure to come up with the perfect
Mother’s Day present. While buying her
something is always nice, what most moms really treasure is something homemade
from you and the kids.
1. Write a song with the kids. Use the melody of a tune you all know well and change the lyrics just for her. Be sure to record the kids performing the song so she can enjoy it over and over!
2. Go on a picnic. Pack a lunch and go to a park or even just set up a nice meal on the back deck. Write fun notes to her and hide them in her napkin or under her plate and let her discover them as you eat.
3. Give her a helping hand. Take half sheets of construction paper and trace your child’s handprint. Write in the handprint something that you or the kids can help with that she usually does around the house.
4. Clean out her car. Moms practically live in their car. Vacuum up all the cheerios, get rid of all the empty juice pouches and stray papers and clean the inside dash and windows. It will make her feel like she is driving a new car.
5. Make a sunshine jar. Take an empty mason jar and fill it up with slips of paper, pictures from the kids, compliments, fun memories, inspirational quotes or anything that will make her day. Decorate it with her name and a big sun on the outside. She can pull out slips whenever she needs a boost in her day.
6. Give her a time-out. Sometimes a Mom just needs a little time to herself. Mother’s Day doesn’t have to be a big production if all she is craving is a couple of hours to check out and recharge her batteries. You can make dinner or have another fun surprise waiting for her when she returns.
Sandra Pinter is a mother of 2 daughters and co-founder of Moxie Jean—kids consignment made easy- At Moxie Jean, moms get the gift of time by making it super easy to buy and sell high quality, like-new baby and kids clothes online.
Location: 601 W. Campus Drive, Suite C-7. Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Compensation: $12/hour
About the company:
Moxie Jean is a designer kid’s resale web site for busy moms who to save money AND save the planet--and don't want to sacrifice style to do so. By providing a curated, stylish selection of like-new kids' clothes at consignment sale prices, Moxie Jean makes it easy to keep up with fast-growing little bodies, from Newborn to size 8. And with the free, postage-paid Moxie Jean Mailer Bag that is delivered to your door, it's easier than ever to clean out the kids' closets and get cash or credit toward the clothes they need next.
Moxie Jean is a “social enterprise,” which means that we want to make a positive impact on everyone affected by our company, not just the owners: customers, employees and the community are also important to how we judge our success. We aim to help busy parents reduce their consumption and find a new home for the lightly used clothes their own kid have outgrown. See what our inventory is like.
About the opportunity:
Moxie Jean is growing faster than a preschooler! We need general help in all areas of operations: clothing intake, bundling and photographing, packing and shipping. If you like kids’ clothing, have a great sense of style, well-developed computer skills and a “roll up your sleeves and get it done” attitude, this is a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a fast-growing company. Right now, every team member does every job, so you won’t ever be bored. Motivated, creative, hard-working individuals will be able to grow with the company in the coming years.
Moxie Jean offers a flexible, part-time schedule and work-life balance. If you’re looking for something fun and creative as part-time work, we’d love to meet you.
Responsibilities:
· Clothing intake: Sort, evaluate and enter data on incoming Moxie Jean Mailer Bags. Steam clothing, sort by size and add to inventory. Requires attention to detail, Excel skills and ability to work quickly and independently.
· Styling and bundling: Take individual items of clothing and create coordinated, stylish outfits that fit into the Moxie Jean “style lines.” Requires a strong personal sense of style, eye for color and fabric to know what will be appealing.
· Photographing: Hang, photograph and accurately describe the bundles put together by stylists. Requires good style and spatial skills (knowing what looks good in hanging the outfits), accuracy in data entry (strong Excel skills) and ability to keep moving through many bundles every day.
· Pick, Pack and Ship: Process orders from the online system, accurately fulfill orders, pack up, apply postage and include necessary documents. Requires comfort with an online order system, attention to detail and accuracy in data entry.
General qualifications
· Shows consistently upbeat, positive attitude.
· Able to take challenges in stride and exhibits grace under pressure.
· Flexible, adaptable to different tasks and able to learn quickly and pick up new processes; willing to pitch in on any task.
· Strong attention to detail.
· Able to make suggestions for improvement based on experience and contribute to overall team efficiency.
· Well-developed sense of style, familiar with current trends in fashion.
· Direct experience with baby and kids’ clothing, either through personal experience or retail.
· Experience and comfort with computers and data entry through desktop and web-based applications.
· Flexible on hours, able to work throughout the holiday season.
· Able to stand and walk for 8 hours.
· Able to comfortably lift 30 lbs. on a regular basis.
To apply: please send cover letter and resume to hello+jobs@moxiejean.com. Moxie Jean will conduct rolling interviews until a successful candidate is hired. No phone calls please.
I'm a bit of a fashionista. So naturally, before my first baby was born, I bought a bunch of adorable itty bitty Newborn-sized clothes. I knew I was having a girl, so the options were just irresistible.
And then my gorgeous daughter arrived one happy day in January. All 8 pounds, 5 ounces of her. And I think she wore a Newborn-sized outfit home from the hospital. And never fit in one again. She was just too big.
All those cute little clothes I had so carefully washed and folded into her dresser were useless, and I couldn't even return them to the store.
My second child was a boy. A 9 lb. 10 oz. baby boy. My third baby was another girl, weighing in at 8 lbs., 8 oz. Neither of them ever fit in size Newborn for more than about five days, either.
Luckily, by that time I had learned the most important lesson about Newborn baby clothes, which is this:
NEVER BUY NEWBORN CLOTHES NEW.
You don't know exactly how big your baby will be, but even if he or she is perfectly average at about 7 lbs, Newborn clothes will only fit for a few weeks. Then the baby will move up to size "0-3 Months" (which some manufacturers call just "3 Months" or "3M"). And a month or two after that, up to size "3-6 Months."
In short, babies go through SEVEN sizes in the first two years. And it's rarely a nice, neat progression.
So it's just not worth the expense to buy the stuff new. That's the reason "Upscale Resale" site Moxie Jean is an expecting mom's best friend: we buy the gorgeous baby clothes that other people paid top retail dollar for, that their own babies barely touched. We only take the very best, most perfect baby clothes, and then style and photograph them for you to browse at your leisure.
Moxie Jean lets you buy the baby clothes you want for a fraction of the price of new, and still fulfill your fashionista urges to make the baby the cutest thing on the planet. Shop our Newborn Girls or Newborn Boys collections -- and stick with us for 0-3 Months and beyond!
These days, savvy folks everywhere are looking to make a few dollars by reselling their high quality clothing, and save money by purchasing perfectly good clothes and other items that are "pre-loved." What is the difference between "consignment" and "resale"? Which is right for you?
"Consignment" is an arrangement where you bring something to the store and they attempt to sell it for you.
"Resale" is an arrangement where you bring something to a store and they decide on the spot whether to purchase it from you or not.
Moxie Jean is an online option for "upscale resale." (Thousands of moms have used our service and you can read what they think.)
Wondering what to buy for your bundle of joy? Remember that the baby will be perfectly still and clean and smell good for about 5 minutes every day. The rest of the time, babies mostly eat (messy), poop (messy), and sleep (not messy but requires comfort).
Here are the essentials you really need to keep your baby (and you!!) happy and snug those first few weeks at home.
The clothing specialists at "Upscale Resale" site Moxie Jean inspect, style and sell thousands of pieces of kids' clothing every month. These tips will help you take the best care of your baby and kids' clothes so they stay like new and are more likely to be purchased by Moxie Jean.
