Are you a Boston Mama?

By Heather Kempskie


To find our answer, P&K went straight to the source. Christine Koh, local mom extraordinaire, is the founder of BostonMamas.com and the link to all things that makes a Boston Mama wonderful!


Find out her picks for the best child products, learn how her career led her to where she is now and much more.

P&K: You founded, or to more aptly phrase it, conceived BostonMamas.com two years ago. It's a fantastic online source of info for moms who want the inside scoop on cool products and help navigating the many resources available to them in the Boston area. Give us your best description of a Boston Mama? Who is she?

Christine Koh: Thanks for your kind comments about the site Heather, and what a great question. In my mind, a Boston mama is someone who is busy and thus eager for diverse information all in one place. She’s a modern mom who is hands on, and wants ideas and resources on how to put together everything from a nutritious meal to a cool birthday party to a pretty nursery, but on a busy mom’s time frame. She wants key Boston area event picks, optimally ones that appeal to the entire family. She seeks stylish finds and is willing to splurge periodically, but also needs to keep a check on her wallet. She loves reading to her children. She cares about the environment and wants the scoop on excellent eco-friendly products and services, and also to learn how to instill a respect for the environment in her children. She wants to hear real stories from real moms that make her feel like she’s not on her own when her kid doesn’t hit the textbook developmental milestones to the letter, or pees on the floor in rebellion, or refuses to eat anything other than cheese and blueberries. She’s looking to connect with other moms, whether it’s by joining a local playgroup, shopping local mom businesses, or learning about their stories. And of course, she loves web surfing, whether it’s while nursing a baby in the middle of the night, checking in on her Blackberry while her kid builds sandcastles, during a coffee break, or catching up on web reading over the weekend.

Actually, other than the local angles, these descriptors clearly fit modern hands on, yet time-pressed moms everywhere. I guess this is why we enjoy a wonderful national readership, and I am deeply appreciative that moms tune in to the site amidst their busy days.  

P&K: Your site reviews some very unique products from businesses like the My Clean Plate Club or the Diaper Lab. How do you learn about these products?

 

Koh: Products and services make it to feature in different ways. The first, most voluminous avenue is through the piles of e-mail pitches I receive from independent business owners and PR firms. I actually take the time to look at each pitch and website, then make decisions about product submission, editorial status, or alternative placement. And it’s very important to me that readers know that our editorial space is never for sale. Way back when I started the site, I was so depressed when I first learned about the concept of advertorials - editorial content that looks like an unbiased product review but actually is a paid spot, oftentimes with the text provided directly by the vendor. I wondered how many products I had purchased in the past based on features that I thought were unbiased reviews. I’m much more skeptical now when I look at product pick write-ups, scouring for tiny disclosure print, or simply veering away from editorial that clearly sounds too corporate.

 

Second, I love when readers write in about favorite products and services; that’s actually how I learned about Diaper Lab (and Twinkle Star Boutique, which houses Diaper Lab in Ball Square). For local finds, since I don’t have time to walk the streets of Boston and its suburbs daily on the hunt for new picks, I think of the readers who submit these tips as unofficial citizen journalists. Similar to how I operate with the pitches above, I always follow up and research submitted tips, but the tip itself provides the initial connection to Boston Mamas.

 

Finally, the third way I learn about products and services is through my needs, or those of my mama friends or readers writing in to ask me questions. I am a researcher by training, exhaustive and meticulous in method, and I can’t help but translate these skills to my parenting. Whether I’m looking for a product, service, or information on developmental stages, I research exhaustively then I translate my findings to the site. Actually, one of my favorite examples of this is that a reader wrote in to ask if I could address separation from the mom perspective. This mom was relocating across the country for work for the summer and would be separated from her husband and toddler son. I immediately started drafting ideas and emailed my awesome regular guest contributors and within a matter of days pulled together an amazing collective editorial of tips for coping with separation. The mom who submitted that inquiry was floored by how quickly we pulled this together and by all of the ideas offered. That’s one of the things I love about having this independent blog; we can be so nimble and effective.

 

P&K: Do you have an all-time favorite product? If it's hard to narrow down, at least tell P&K readers about a few recent products you've come across.

 

Koh: Wow, that is a tough question! Let me break it down to a few top picks in various categories. For kiddie play, I (and my daughter Laurel) absolutely love Mudpuppy’s magnetic figure tins. In general, Mudpuppy’s line is gorgeously illustrated; beautiful for kids and easy on parental eyes, and there’s so much room for creative play with the magnetic tins. I also love the cultural awareness doll and book line by JamboKids, and I think the natural art supplies by Eco-Kids are really great. It’s more expensive to buy Eco-Kids than mass market sculpting dough, but it’s a mom owned business and she will even make gluten, soy, or dairy free eco-dough if your kid has dietary restrictions.

 

For kid’s gear, I really love the One Step Ahead Folding Potty Seat – these seats are inexpensive, fold small for toting, and are a huge help to deal with the ick factor of public restrooms. For mommy fashionistas, I also love the washable Wet Happened? zippered bags – the interior is waterproof to contain soiled clothing, wet swimsuits, stinky diapers, and leaky bottles and sippies, and the exterior fabric options are lovely. I also think the Snuggle Bug Baby Blankets at Tilly Jane make a great gift for new parents; they are super soft, trimmed with gorgeous fabrics, and come with a big blanket for home and a matching mini-blankie for out and about. And Oopsy Daisy!’s High Chair Hair Care rinse is pretty brilliant; it’s a foamy mousse-like cleanser that’s great for washing food and stickies out of your kid’s hair when you don’t need a full tubby. It’s mysterious technology to me, but it works!

 

I see so much kid’s clothing so I’ll just limit myself to the most inspiring line I have learned about to date. Moms really should check out Toto Knits; it’s an unbelievable collection of adorable animal inspired sweaters and blankets – ethically produced from start to finish. A pair of moms – a former New Yorker and a Nairobi native – founded Toto Knits as a means to empower Kenyan women, who knit as a way to earn a living in a flexible, family friendly work environment.

 

Finally, a few home and fitness picks: For home, I’m obsessed with GreenDimes for reducing junk paper mail, love eco-friendly dropps laundry detergent, and also think the stainless steel friendly clips, frames, and notepads by Mayfair Lane are clever and pretty. For fitness, locally based Lotuspad has great PVC-free yoga mats with pretty patterned tote straps for kids, and this summer I fell in love with the mom and kid hula hoops by Hoopnotica. I always thought I just didn’t have the right hips for hula hooping, but Hoopnotica proved me wrong!

 

P&K: By the way, Happy Birthday to You and everyone at Boston Mamas! Share with us how you are celebrating this milestone.

 

Koh: I still can’t believe the site is two years old. It seems like both a short and long time. To celebrate the site’s birthday, I have pulled together a collection of wonderful sponsors and am running giveaways through July and August. For full disclosure (related to advertorials above), I should say that they are sponsors in the sense that they have been deemed suitable for editorial and are donating product for the giveaways, but they are not paying for editorial placement. It really has been a pleasure to feature these folks – many of them indie business owners - and the response from readers has been overwhelming. 

 

P&K: You've taken an interesting career path. From an academic to a Web site founder and an artist. Tell us about Posh Peacock?

 

Koh: Yes, it’s been an interesting ride. I spent 10 years as an academic, developing expertise in music as it relates to cognitive processes and brain structures. These interests stemmed from my years as a competitive violinist and my experience as a private violin teacher and group coach. During my Ph.D., I tackled the pedagogical, cognitive angles from a music learning perspective, and during my postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard/MIT I studied neurological correlates of music processing via work with stroke and temporal lobectomy patients. I evaluated what happens to music perception when parts of the brain are impaired by stroke or through removal of part of the temporal lobe. I also did some preliminary work looking at using music in the NICU to decrease stress responses for premature babies during painful procedures such as heel sticks for blood draws.

 

Despite how impressive this all may sound, I questioned leaving the field at various points in my academic career. The postdoc unfortunately was a very painful experience for me on multiple levels and while I learned an enormous amount about myself during that time, it was clear that my passions lay elsewhere. The prospect of being an overworked, underpaid, not-so-inspired junior faculty member with a baby in full time day care just seemed crazy to me, whereas the idea of becoming a writer, editor, and designer – a creative and inspired person - made sense even though it was a huge leap. In the grand scheme of things, I’m still overworked and underpaid, but I’m definitely inspired and I am completely in command of my schedule, which allows my daughter to get some socialization at preschool, and also enjoy plenty of time at home.

 

I launched Boston Mamas towards the end of my postdoc, after countless sleepless nights. I was just completely fired up about the idea. Then I officially launched Posh Peacock a couple of months later. Regarding Posh Peacock, the ironic intersection is that between my Ph.D. and postdoc, I had a few months off, and decided to work at an art store part time so I didn’t become a complete couch potato. I quickly was flooded with design ideas and started creating all sorts of crazy personal projects (Laurel’s baby announcement, thank you cards, etc.) and then my friends and family came calling. I’ve always had a creative, very hands on side to me, and after fooling around with Illustrator (so I could attempt to design a pregnant lady holding a handbag for a friend’s baby shower), I realized that vector graphics came very naturally to me and I absolutely loved the ability to create my own artwork.

 

I then started designing motifs like a woman obsessed. This happened during the fall of 2006 and I give three girlfriends in particular – Heidi, Paige, and Kate – serious props for helping me realize that my work was actually worthy. Heidi and Paige saw the motifs I was designing and basically did all of their holiday shopping for female friends and family through me, via requests for personalized stationery. Paige’s husband also called me to order his staff holiday gifts and corporate holiday cards through me. And Kate has hired me for numerous custom projects, from baby announcements to holiday cards to invitations. And there are two things I have really appreciated about all of this. First, these women are all very stylish with excellent taste so the fact that they actually wanted to buy product from me made me realize that maybe – even as an untrained artist – I had enough talent to be doing this. And second, these friends all firmly insisted on paying me; truly wanting to support what I was doing, and making no assumptions that because I was a friend I would do the work for free.

 

After I recovered from this informal holiday craziness, I continued to build my motif collection, then started building the Posh Peacock website – taking product shots, writing code, designing the layout… it was madness. In addition to the motif collection, where clients can pick images to apply to stationery, calling cards, invites, etc., I also started built my online custom portfolio. I love working on custom design projects; I’m very good at listening to clients and getting a read on and translating their vision, even if they can’t quite articulate what they want. I do everything from baby announcements to wedding invitations to family stationery to business identity to websites, and one thing continues to amaze me throughout. I have completed custom work for clients all over North America and we’re only connected electronically, yet the client/designer relationship still feels so meaningful and tangible; I feel as if I really gain a window into the people behind the projects as I help them celebrate their family milestones. The level of connection I feel there, and through my work on Boston Mamas, is so inspiring and fuels my passion for the work.