Three Mothers

Change is in the air everywhere, including here at Mommy Mailbox. Sarah, Ainsley and I are thrilled to share that we’re passing the reins to another hard working mama, Kate Gray. Kate has a background in subscription boxes and brings that instinct for style that our subscribers have come to expect from Mommy Mailbox. We’ll give her the space to share her story but we couldn’t be more excited to see her take the business to the next level and bring our mission to even more mothers.

The three of us started this business exactly two years ago. We each had two little kids at home, we wanted to keep our professional skillsets fresh and we were wondering what the next phase looked like for each of us. After flushing out the initial concept of Mommy Mailbox (and a few sleepless nights), we finally decided, Why not? Let’s go for it. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be. We sent out a few emails to vendors and were overwhelmed at the immediate positive responses. Our baby with three mothers was born.

Then came the work. We built our brand from scratch on a shoestring budget with little but sweat equity and a discerning eye. We fit in emails, orders, coding, pinning, marketing, shipping and branding in the stolen moments of naptime, nighttime and predawn hours because we knew this was an idea worth sacrificing for. One that could fulfill other mothers nationwide while also filling our own cups.  

The business grew. And grew. Opportunities came knocking, connections were made and brands we never dreamed would look our way were suddenly excited to be our partners. It was everything we wanted it to be and, dare I say it, often even more.  

It’s been far from easy of course. We’ve lost plenty of sleep, we’ve disagreed (once in a while) and we’ve shed tears. Our group text stream is endless and we’ve clocked more hours on the phone than a teenage girl with her first boyfriend.

But just as our business left the infant stage behind, our families were changing too. New babies, new houses, new jobs have meant our families needed us in ways we wanted to give. In a bittersweet moment, our trio realized it was time to send our baby out into the world to be nurtured by another mother. For now, our focus will be on our families and we are incredibly grateful this business has given us the chance to now do that. Kate is more than ready to take the business to the next step and you’ll only notice better and better boxes going forward.

To our subscribers and followers, we’ve loved sharing this journey with you. We appreciate your support SO so very much. We know big things are still to come from each of us personally and professionally and we can’t wait to explore what’s next.

XO,

Sarah, Jamie and Ainsley

Capturing Treasured Moments with TimeShel

I’ve been saying this for years, but I really want to be more organized with our photos. Between my iphone, my husband’s iphone and my nice camera, we are constantly snapping pictures of our kids but it seems like we rarely look at them again, much less print or frame them. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that I realized most the framed photos in my house were from nearly five years ago when my little one was a baby! Embarrassing but reality and don’t tell me I’m alone.

We are so excited to partner with TimeShel, an app that lets you select photos from your iPhone, then delivers them to your doorstep beautifully printed. Like professional quality prints with gorgeous paper and coloring. It literally takes seconds once you’ve downloaded the app and you can do it every month for pretty cheap.

We’re always editing photos for Mommy Mailbox which means I rarely have time to do much with my personal photos beyond my Instagram feed. These are all moments I want to treasure and keep so I used TimeShel to print my feed in 4x6 prints and you guys, look how pretty!

Every subscriber received a code for a month of free prints in their September box. Show us your treasured moments you printed!

WHY MOMS NEED MAIL

BY JAMIE STUM

I’m raising two young children. Actually, I have two young children; I’m raising a man and a woman. Most days it’s a roller coaster of calm and chaos around here to sculpt the big personalities filling those tiny bodies into the impactful adults I see inside of them.

I have hazy memories of the first few months when I was adjusting to caring for two. My youngest was a newborn; my oldest wasn’t even 18 months old. I remember baby snuggles at sunrise and my son proudly toddling toward the playground in the fading afternoon sunlight. I remember disorganized boxes of diapers, lost binkies and anxious nights peering first over the bassinet, then over the crib in the next room.

I was incredulous at and overwhelmingly grateful for my two healthy babies who approached every moment with wonderment. I was also bone weary, emotional and isolated. It’s not even the slightest exaggeration to say that I could rarely get us all out of the house before 4:00 p.m. We went through an average of 150 diapers per week. Home cooked meals were things we only saw on The Food Network.

Maybe it was the spit up aroma, the months of inconsistent sleep or the lingering pregnancy pounds but it’s safe to say I rarely felt like the organized, stylish, competent person I used to be. I think we’ve all been there.

Here’s what grounded me: I remembered I had a third person to care for, once a child, now a woman. I remembered myself. I read a book by Anna Quindlen about her days in a similar situation and how she took a few moments to read every day, just to do something that helped her feel replenished. I took her words to heart and realized that finding that moment where you are more than a mother somehow makes you a better one.

When the Mommy Mailbox team talked about starting a business, we had lots of ideas. We all knew we wanted to do something that would refuel women in a way that we often deny ourselves. We wanted to do it in a way that was convenient, affordable, exciting and most of all, special. And Mommy Mailbox was born to three mothers.

We’re not saying that opening your door to find a beautiful package full of surprises will solve all your challenges. (Well, maybe a bit ;) At least we hope it will make the hard days brighter and the good days into ones you treasure forever.

Being a mother is joyous. Sometimes it can be lonely. To this day, I remain equal parts overwhelmed and content at my decision to create a family. Like all of us, I know I wouldn’t change that decision, not once, not for anything in the world. I just need a moment for myself to feel equal to the task.