The founder is Mouse Allen, an Oxford graduate who, before selling babywear, was an investment manager in the City where she was used to everything being efficient and working. ‘Something has to be done!’ she thought and spent months researching and product testing before launching Magnet Mouse in 2014 as a solution to fiddly poppers. Her baby clothes can be undone and fastened in seconds, in the dark or with one hand. The latest product is a duvet cover closed by invisible magnetic fastenings. Today, we talk websites, apps and shopping wholesale on eBay with Mouse.
My favourite website… YouTube - For its ‘how to’ videos. I have found the answer to almost everything from how to make a bay window pelmet to fixing YOYO car seat adapters.
My favourite app… WhatsApp, - I honestly can’t remember how we survived without it. The only downside is that people (like my mother and mother-in-law) can see when you have read – but not yet responded – to a message.
My blog of choice… My Baba - It isn’t just another mummy blog. Some of their expert thought pieces are fascinating and original.
My internet hero… Larry Page, the founder of Google - That little search bar has made the internet accessible to everyone, no matter how un-technological.
My favourite podcasts… Desert Island Discs, especially the archived ones from the Roy Plomley days, and Ted Talks. There should be a new phrase for being, well – Ted rather than well read.
My most recent buy online… Gold ribbon from eBay. You can buy small amounts at wholesale prices, which is great for presents too.
Book just downloaded/ read… ‘The Brain that Changes Itself’ by Norman Doidge - It is an extraordinary and riveting book on neuroplasticity for lay people. The brain is capable of miracles; it really is! I look at people with a sense of awe now.
Favourite tweeter… I’m afraid I don’t follow Twitter though Trump makes it hard to ignore.
Favourite Instagrammer… @surestep.products - They make orthotic shoes for infants and children with hypotonia and neuromuscular disorders. They post wonderful, inspirational quotes and photos; I urge any parent experiencing something like that to follow them. They are so uplifting and engaging.
Social media allowed me to meet… The next generation. I get to see pictures of all my friends with their children, especially those who live abroad or those who I don’t get to see often. It is an amazing way of keeping in touch when we don’t have time to write long letters or get photos printed.
Read more guest editor interviews here.
My Web with Anna Murphy: The Fashion Director of The Times and author of How Not to Wear Black tells us about her life online.
My Web with Sophie Stanbury: Girl about town and Ladies of London star on makeup tutorials, last-minute fashion and addictive apps.
My Web with Katherine Ormerod: Journalist and author of ‘Why Social Media is Ruining Your Life’ shares the sites that are actually worth knowing and those that she finds depressing and aggressive.
March 2019