One year ago today, the official announcement was made and we were celebrating not only the great news of the award itself, but also that the Nibbler was the first international recipient! 

There are a couple of things that make this award so special: not only has it passed inspection by moms across America, it has also been recognized as a product which enhances the social-emotional development of children by a licensed child and family therapist.

As per Kidlutions:  ”The Nightmare Nibbler contributes to social-emotional development in a big way.  When kids learn how to conquer their fears, and master situations that make them feel helpless, their self-confidence soars.  Now, that is something to cheer about!”

We thought so too! Kidlutions has been a great resource for Nightmare Nibbler and for that we are very thankful!

Well, once I did – was I ever glad!  Although Facebook seems to implement changes faster than I can keep up with them, I have found it to be an amazingly wonderful forum for connecting with friends/family on a personal level and for making new contacts and forging new relationships on a business level as well! How else could I have had requests from folks in Australia who were interested in ordering Nibblers?  Grateful for the global reach of this fabulous and FREE resource!

Twitter as well as been a great learning experience – after going through my ‘addiction’ phase I now tweet ‘responsibly’ and find it to be a fun challenge when I’m forced to dig deep to figure out how to say what I want, without exceeding the 140 character limit!

So easy to fall in to the addiction!

Well, I’ve been getting more and more comfortable with both of these sites and even with LinkedIn – recently updating my profile and figuring out the ins/outs of making the  most of this professional network…I know that I’m still far away from being a social media expert or harnessing the full potential of these tools, but I thought I was making decent progress…

AND THEN CAME PINTEREST!….

I had heard rumblings about this pinboard style social photo sharing website, but didn’t investigate until recent comments from those using it compelled me to check things out. It is so pretty and engaging, it’s easy to see how it has become to popular so quickly and why the comments of  ’you’ll spend hours on it!’…were indeed founded!  However,  having gone through Facebook/Twitter ‘rehab’ for addiction, I am in a much better position now – I’m trying to allocate little chunks of time to it – trying to take baby steps and not get sucked in…so far so good – I’m having fun checking things out without being glued to the screen for hours on end – for now. Let’s see how long that will power will last!

~Susan

Enjoy a 20% discount off the purchase of Nightmare Nibbler plush toys and picture books!  Simply use the coupon code: VALENTINE upon checkout in our online store!

We LOVE our Nightmare Nibbler Nation friends!

For our family however, and indeed for the Nightmare Nibbler Nation, this day holds a very special place in our hearts…

It was in the wee hours of the morning on the 13th of February in 2002, that a highly anticipated cry pierced the darkness at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

At that time, Samuel Smith-Lauchlan made his debut, my name switched from Susan to ‘MAMA’ and the lives of myself and my hubby would be changed forever…in all the best ways possible!

Presenting Mr. Dressup - Age 4

This little loving ball of energy…MY little loving ball of energy – would, when he was 4 years old, prove to be the inspiration for the birth of a new nation! Who knew?!

As I’ve shared on our ABOUT US page, Sam’s experiences with nightmares as a younger child initiated the creation of the Nightmare Nibbler character, the land of the Nibblers and in turn the launch of a new business designed to bring comfort to other kids and families as well!

Sam - Today

Happy 10th Birthday Sam…the creativity and ingenuity that you are gifted with continually proves to inspire and motivate me…and for that I am truly grateful.

I love you!!  xoxoxoxo

It is unfortunate but in spite of the best laid intellectual property plans, this type of thing happens!  This discussion got me to thinking about how I’d feel if this were to happen to me…as I am prone to do – I immediately Googled the subject and found a great article which spoke exactly of this theme and I knew I just had to share it!

Charlie Kilkey, of Productive Flourishing, gives some fabulous tips in his blog post called, ” How to Deal with Copycats and Idea Thieves”  for those who may find themselves in this unenviable (or is it?) predicament.

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 Susan

As with the creation of the plush toy, deciding to create a children’s picture book was an entirely new venture for me and one I knew NOTHING about!  Thanks to extensive research and input from friends who did have experience with this type of thing, I was ready to take the leap.

I am ever so grateful to have been directed to a great Canadian self-publishing company called ART BOOKBINDERY. 

This is what the home page of their website has to say:

Art Bookbindery is the self publishing company that guides you through the entire process of preparing and printing your book.

We’re a customer-centric company. That means we’re here when you need us, ready to answer any questions you have about self publishing absolutely free. We pride ourselves on our experience and acclaimed service.

And you know what? Everything they said is absolutely true! It was so great to work with an organization that completely and totally lives up to the blurb on their site…they were wonderful to work with – answering my 1001 questions (ok – maybe it was more like 1002!) with nothing but patience and good humour, they were always easy to get in touch with and were super supportive- knowing just the right thing to say to this ‘newbie’ to keep me focussed and on track.

I was referred to them by a friend and now my overwhelmingly positive experience will prompt me in turn to refer them to anyone who may benefit from the services of a self publishing company. 

This quote sums up my thoughts with regards to Art Bookbindery:

When the customer comes first, the customer will last.
Robert Half

I know who I’m calling when book number two is ready to go!  No nightmares for me where this is concerned!

What better way to kick off the New Year than by sharing a letter of thanks sent to us here at Nightmare Nibbler and The Nightmare Nibbler Project from new friends here in London, ON!

As you may recall from the previous blog post, thanks to the Shop For A Cause event that was held in November, we were thrilled to donate 20 Nibblers to the Children’s Health Foundation so that they could be gifted to kids in the local hospital at Christmas.

The sentiment in the attached letter reinforces our passion for expanding the reach and scope of The Nightmare Nibbler Project in 2012. In fact, given the comfort that Nibblers can provide for different children in a variety of difficult situations – including those who are in hospital – we are seeking…

“To bring added comfort and smiles to kids facing traumatic experiences – one Nibbler at a time.”

We have updated The Nightmare Nibbler Project page on the website and invite you to take a peek to see what we have in mind and up our sleeves for the future! We thank you in advance for your support in helping to share our vision.

Pleasant Dreams xx

~Susan

It’s that time of year when there is plenty of talk about the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ and in the Nightmare Nibbler Nation, it’s certainly no different.  In fact, in the Nightmare Nibbler Nation we are aiming to embrace the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ every day of the year!  Our mission in setting up The Nightmare Nibbler Project is to bring comfort and smiles to kids in hospital – one Nibbler at a time  – ANYTIME!

Thanks to our recent Shop For A Cause Event – we were thrilled to have donated 20 Nibblers to the Children’s Health Foundation in London recently. How exciting it will be for kids in Children’s Hospital to be gifted with Nibblers on Christmas Day!   It is our desire to provide these brave children with any comfort we can during their challenging and often frightening stays at the hospital, especially when that stay takes place over the holidays!

The wonderful actress Melissa Joan Hart agrees!

We had the pleasure of meeting Melissa at the pre-Emmy event we were invited to in September in LosAngeles and we relished the opportunity to introduce her both to our product and to our project.  Evidently, it made an impact as she wished to donate a number of Nibblers AND Norbert the Nightmare Nibbler books to a hospital charity in her area so that they’d be given to kids for Christmas!

We LOVE her generosity and are so thankful and grateful for being given the opportunity to help make even a small difference in a child’s life. Our plan for 2012 is to bring more attention to The Nightmare Nibbler Project and to expand its reach so that many, many more kids may benefit. 

We are very appreciative of all of you who have helped the Nightmare Nibbler Nation make its mark…and we thank you in advance for continuing to help increase public awareness.  

Participating in the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ vibe, 365 days a year, is possible!!

Wishing you Peace, Love and Joy now and in the coming New Year xx

Merry Christmas

Well, today is the day that I’ve seen pigs fly!….ok, perhaps not literally, but I have seen something happen which in my opinion is pretty darn close!

Last Thursday I felt like a kid watching for the ice cream truck to come down our street as I waited for Purolator to deliver my order of Norbert the Nightmare Nibbler books. I was so excited – the sample was amazing and I couldn’t wait to receive the others!

Last Friday I felt like a kid whose ice cream had just fallen off the cone onto the ground…the books still hadn’t arrived – I was so disappointed and I must admit, angry.

I was promised that they’d arrive on Saturday but as the sunset so did my hopes…NOTHING. Oooh…this wasn’t good at all – I was attending an event on Sunday that was supposed to see the release of the books…uh.oh…I had no books to release!

The next three days are a blur as I spoke with countless number of people in trying to figure out where they went!

In checking the tracking, I discovered that my order had seemingly vanished off the charts just outside of Winnipeg.  Initial feedback suggested that the truck my order was on had broken down and all items on it were reloaded on to other vehicles. But where were these trucks going? No-one seemed to know. Arghhhh….what the heck? (popular phrase borrowed from my son

Had this happened at any other time of year, I won’t lie and say that I wouldn’t have been annoyed, but I was now like a crazed dog with a bone!

I have Christmas pre-orders to fill – there are wonderful customers expecting to have the books wrapped and ready under the tree and I have to factor in the shipping time to get them to them in time throughout Canada and the US!  Things were looking bleak since the level of miscommunication and confusion within Purolator was unreal!

So much so that I was already making preparations to beg and plead with my publisher/printer to see if they could run an ‘emergency print job’!    But then….a light at the end of the tunnel….

As a form of self-imposed torture, I’d check the tracking each day only to see the same message – that my order had left Winnipeg on the 29^th of November. But this morning, I saw the message that nearly brought tears to my eyes…

“ On vehicle for delivery via London,ON”!!!

Praise be…and guess what?!  They just arrived!  Woohoo!!  Where were they all this time? I have no idea and I’m quite certain Purolator doesn’t either.  We’ll deal with them later – right now I’ve got to get my skates on and get these orders out…oh yah and take a picture of the flying pig!  *chuckle* *chuckle*

I am super excited to be introducing a blog!  This great idea was suggested to me by a new friend/all around clever guy, who felt that it would be a great way to connect with the Nightmare Nibbler Nation (N3) website visitors…and I agree! Thank you Edward!  

As with most things I’m working on, the blog will be constantly evolving and growing. Not only do I look forward to sharing a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I also look forward to hearing from YOU!  I invite you to read a little more about me and my hopes for the blog by clicking the ABOUT tab.  The Nightmare Nibbler Nation is a growing community and I’m thankful that you are a part of it!

~Susan