How do you combine work and motherhood?Mother Barbara gives tips!

Both working moms and parents who take full care of the children are faced with the daily struggles. To keep it all balanced, you could use some extra arms! Unfortunately this is not possible, but all parents have superpower! From taking good care of the kids to the daily household; somehow you manage to succeed every parent job every single time. Mother Barbara den Hollander also endure these struggles every day; to give fellow busy parents a helping hand, she gives a few tips from her own experiences that you can put into practice immediately! Enjoy the read.

Van de zorg voor de kids tot aan het huishouden; elke keer is alles toch weer voor elkaar. Ook moeder Barbara den Hollander maakt deze struggles elke dag mee; om mede-ouders een hart onder de riem te steken, geeft ze een aantal tips uit haar eigen ervaringen die je direct in de praktijk kunt brengen! Enjoy the read.

Meet Barbara den Hollander

The sparkling Barbara den Hollander lives with her husband Rens, daughter Robin and son Jim in the center of Amsterdam. And not just in a regular house, no, they live on a colorful home-built houseboat. Barbara is a real approacher; she founded her own company with vintage shoes, where she learned all the tricks of the online marketing profession. As soon as Barbara became mother of two beautiful children, she saw the importance of healthy food. From this moment Bio Bebo, an online webshop for organic baby food, was born!

Founder van Bio Bebo

Healthy food has been a big trend for a long time among men, but not when it comes to food for babies. As the mother of two young kids, Barbara found it hard to find food without chemicals or other harmful additives for babies. Barbara about her search for healthy baby food:

"I'm fortunate to live in Amsterdam. We have many organic supermarkets around here, but even in these supermarkets it is hard to find more than two flavours of organic baby food."

"And then I thought, this must be different!"

Barbara founded Bio Bebo to give parents more options when it comes to organic baby food. All parents in the Netherlands can buy organic baby food of various reliable organic brands via her online webshop. Her skills in online marketing —which she gained from her previous online webshop with vintage shoes— enabled her to bring the web shop of Bio Bebo to a high level:

"With years of experience in online marketing, the step to start a webshop again was quickly made."

Barbara is at her best when she manages to make a fresh meal for her son and daughter, but sometimes she will give them some Bio Bebo food:

"As soon as my second child was born, I was no longer able to prepare fresh meals every day for my kids. I could consider myself lucky when they did not wear their clothes inside out! Despite the fact that I can't manage to prepare fresh meals every time —which is my top priority— I am happy to say I can give my children organic food of Bio Bebo. It is really stress relieving!"

Finally! The 3 golden tips from working mom Barbara

1. Don’t be too hard on yourself

Barbara prefers to give the children fresh food, but she also occasionally gives them from Bio Bebo:

“As a parent, it is natural to want to do everything for your child. It’s your unconditional love on autopilot, but, unfortunately, we simply can’t do everything. I always say I am not a perfect mother, but my kids do eat organic food! Look at what’s best for your child and what is possible. Set priorities."

Barbara

2. Schedule quality time with your partner

In the busy periods it is important to relax once in a while. Barbara prefers to do this with her husband Rens. From the beginning of their parenting Rens proposed to keep each other free for each Thursday night. On these evenings the focus is really on each other:

“I have to admit: sometimes I am not in the mood to go out. You think about how tired you are and how you would like nothing more than to chill on the couch. However, we have a set babysitter who comes every Thursday night. So when we leave, I find I am always happy that we pushed through. It always ends up being a wonderful time together!”

3. Dare to ask for help

Young families are real multitaskers. By having all kinds of information, the latest handy gadgets and services at your fingertips, parents prefer to do as much as possible themselves. And then also as perfect as possible. According to Barbara, this puts unnecessary pressure on young families.

After a while, as a parent, you have to take the turn, but sometimes there are unforeseen situations that upset your entire planning. What do you have to do then? A babysitter is ideal in that case. According to Barbara, asking for help for most mothers is very difficult because you give away a bit of control.

"My parents and parents-in-law live too far to let them fit the kids. Very occasionally grandpa comes by to see how things are going with the children, but otherwise I do not want to burden him either. That is why we have decided to take a babysitter home. For Thursday, among other things."