Kelly Rowe is a registered Nurse and the founder of Nana Clair's Gifts toy company. She lives in Mildura, Victoria with her three children Angus 5, Aylah 3, Charlie, 7 months and husband Anthony.

C4K: How would you describe your daily routine?

KR: General day to day life in our house is pretty busy. I have 3 children: The oldest at kinder this year and my youngest only 4 months old. Needless to say, my youngest is pretty good at finding time to sleep in the car in-between the trips to kinder and child care, and the everyday activities that go on in our house. I am a Registered Nurse by trade (still on maternity leave), but still seem to find time to be a Mum and a wife, and run my business - Nana Clair's Gifts.

C4K:How did you come up with Nana Clair’s Gifts (love the name)?

KR: Nana Clairs Gifts – my fourth 'baby' as I like to call it, came about while I was on maternity leave with my second baby. I am a Mum to three beautiful children and while they certainly keep me busy I needed something to keep my adult brain ticking over. I had always wanted to own my own shop, so I took the idea of selling gifts for babies / kids and opened my own online shop - this provides the best of both worlds; I get to have my shop and spend more time at home with the kids, while my customers get to share in our beautiful range of gifts.

C4K: You’re a registered nurse, which must mean a pretty demanding job. How much time did you take off with each child?

KR: Before children, my career as a Registered Nurse working in Intensive Care seemed to be the most important thing in my life (along with my husband of course!). It’s amazing how priorities in life can change in a matter of seconds. As soon as my first baby was born, a lot of things in life changed, and I guess my desire to go to work every day did too. I took 12 months maternity leave with my first child, but for the last couple of months of this time I was able to return to work on casual basis which allowed me to ease myself back into the tricky task of organizing life around shift work. I looked forward to returning to work after having my first 2 kids, I guess it was good getting back to ‘doing what I do’ as an adult and the adult conversation was certainly good.

While on maternity leave with my second baby I created ‘Nana Clair’s Gifts’ as a way of working from home. It’s good fun being able to work from home, but it is also very important to know when to ‘switch off’ and ensure the kids get plenty of Mum time.

C4K: So what actually got you back to work and then setting up your company selling children’s toys?

KR: A few different factors motivated me to return to work and create Nana Clair’s Gifts. I felt it was important for me to do something to stimulate my adult brain. As strange as this sounds I knew going back to work would make me a better Mum! My time then spent with the kids is more valuable time. Nana Clair’s Gifts allows me to work from home, which is very handy with our day-to-day busy life. A big motivator for me to create Nana Clair’s Gifts came from my dream of owning a shop. There are so many beautiful products out there for babies and children and to be able to sell these gorgeous items is such fun. Having a baby is one of the most wonderful things in life and to know that my gifts are being given to a brand new baby, or to a child celebrating a birthday is pretty exciting for me.

C4K: How do you juggle your business and your kids? What child care do you use?

KR: My kids have all attended child care since they were 6 months of age. I started the kids at child care even before I had returned to work to ensure they settled into the centre well before I started work. My middle child (2.5yrs) currently goes to Outback Kids Child Care centre in Mildura. She loves it! My daughter goes to child care 2 days a week, on the days that her older brother is at kinder and this allows me to spend some time working from home- while juggling my 4 month old of course!

C4K: What were you looking for in your child care arrangement?

KR: When I was working as a Nurse I was looking for a child care centre that allowed me to drop my son off and be at work by 7am. Some centres in our area aren’t open this early so this was an important factor for me. I consider a child care centre to be a good centre if the kids are happy. My daughter absolutely loves going to Outback Kids, she asks on a daily basis if she is going to ‘kinder’ (as she affectionately calls it).

C4K: Do you think your arrangement gives you enough flexibility? And how else do you benefit from your child care arrangement?

KR: Yes I think so. The main benefits of attending a child care centre that is open for 12 hours of the day is the flexibility, particularly when I work from home and don’t travel for work. I can drop my daughter off at any time and pick her up when it suits me.

The flexible hours makes the juggling process a lot easier.

Outback Kids child care centre in Mildura also provides all meals and snacks for the kids which is very convenient. The meals are nutritious and well balanced and certainly save me worrying about packing a snack bag for the day.

Outback Kids in Mildura also has a water play area, which is fantastic for Mildura as our summers are very hot! The kids have lots of fun running around in their bathers, keeping nice and cool.

C4K: What three things could you not be without as a working mum?

KR: Three things I simply could not do without as a working Mum would have to be my car, my computer and my daily cup of tea (or 3)!

Nana Clair's Gifts is a one-stop shop where you'll find everything (including inspiration) for children's presents. From Baby to Teenager, this amazing online toy and gift emporium for children specializes in good quality gifts that you are proud to give and that children will be over the moon to receive.

Founded by working mum Kelly Rowe (our Mum in profile this month), 'Nana Clair's' Gifts was inspired by Kelly's Nan, whose name was Clair. Although Nana Clair passed away a few years ago, the fond memories of the beautiful lady she was provide the motivation for the business: There's no better person to receive a great gift from than your Nan.

This month Nana Clair's has very kindly put aside some of their best selling puzzles for CareforKids.com.au readers.

We have four (4) great 63 piece canister puzzles by Mudpuppy to give away: two Around The World and two "Ballerina" Themed puzzles. These puzzles are packed in their own beautifully designed canister finished puzzle measures 46 x 36 cm. The puzzle grey board is made from 90% recycled paper and printed with nontoxic inks. Each puzzle is worth $24.95.

For more fabulous gift ideas go to Nan Clair's Gifts.

For your chance at a puzzle from Nana Clair's Gifts, let us know the best gift you received from your Nana.

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