We’re celebrating real-life SweetMamas! Whether she’s a famous face or the mom in your playgroup, check back weekly to discover her Sweetest Things, as well as her tips on raising them fabulous.
Rebecca Brown
sweetmamas we love canada
(Oct.30.09)
SweetMama We Love: Rebecca Brown
Hometown: Toronto
Mom to: Sam (5) and Rose (18 months)
Also known as: Chief Wild Rumpus Starter/Creative Director of Bunch Family
Whether she's starting a Worldwide Wild Rumpus or conducting an interview with Lemony Snickets, Rebecca Brown is definitely shaking up the status quo. Her company, Bunch Family, has been packing nightclubs with families adjusting to their New World Order for nearly four years. We begged her to tip us off on how she maintains her seemingly effortless (and envy-inducing) cool factor.
SM: Tell us a bit about Bunch Family.
Bunch started out as rock concerts and dance parties for me and my friends and their kids. Then it was rock concerts and dance parties for me and my friends and their kids and thousands of other Toronto families, who started to feel a lot like friends, too. Then we started doing family events for really awesome partners like Luminato and Cirque du Soleil and City of Toronto Special Events and Yahoo! Canada.
Plus, we just launched the Bunch Mag, which is an online magazine about creative families and the crazy and creative things they do together. There's this exciting new family culture happening which is all about being creative with your kids and we want to report on it.
This year we're also throwing rock concerts and dance parties in other great cities. We just launched some stuff in Montreal in partnership with our friends at Yahoo! and POP Montreal and we're planning to do some stuff in Van City in 2010.
SM: What’s your secret to raising them fabulous?
That which is really fabulous about my kids is their own. I don't get bragging rights for it. I do feel like my kids are lucky because they are surrounded by so many awesome people. And they get a behind the scenes peek at some pretty cool things. My son thinks it's totally normal to have shelves full of books signed "To Sam" by the author and my daughter has never known a world where the majority of folks in the Toronto indie music scene did not know her by name.
SM: What’s been your biggest challenge in balancing motherhood and the other parts of yourself (work, writing, etc.)?
I have to really remind myself to be present with the kids when I'm with the kids. My office is in my house which makes it even harder to separate my work day from time with my family. I try to turn off my phone between 5 and 9 but I can't always bring myself to do it. I really love what I do and sometimes I can't detach from whatever fun thing I'm working on enough to fully enjoy time at the park or whatever. So that's something I really struggle with.
SM: Knowing what you know now, what’s the one thing you wish you could tell all new moms or moms-to-be?
When you feel like freaking out, take a break and laugh at yourself. Spending 30 minutes trying to shoe a two-year-old is as much absurd as it is crazy-making. If I can laugh about it rather than turn into a yelling monster, I'd rather laugh about it.
What is the one item you can’t live without for yourself?
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I really, really love my iPhone.
Editor's Note: We're already noticing a pattern here and eyeballing our BlackBerry warily.
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What is the one item you can’t live without for your children?
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As a business owner who couldn't really take mat leave, I am profoundly grateful to my incredibly smart and talented caregiver who I found through canadiannanny.ca. Georgie, you rock!
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*Rebecca Brown family photos by Tynan Studio
Want to be considered as SweetMama We Love? Email us at SMWL@sweetspot.ca