Tag: parenting
Aug
20
Multi-Tasking Mompreneurs-You’re Being Watched
I read an excellent article this morning by Gina Blitzstein, a guest blogger on Work-it Mom! called “A Unique Education: Lessons Children of Mompreneurs Learn”. Next time you are tempted to feel guilty, moms, about all the time you are spending on your business, remember you are also teaching your children. You ARE being watched.
You are also teaching your children many valuable life lessons that are rarely learned anywhere else. Lessons like the value of hard work, how to work as a team, business ethics, and how to find that delicate balance between home life and work (that’s a tough one!).
You’ll need to read the article yourself to be fully inspired, but once again I want to encourage everyone to start a family business. Even if you are one of the blessed that doesn’t need extra money, start a business and donate the proceeds. The lessons learned cannot be found in any book, and the family bonds created are priceless. Don’t worry if you don’t know the first thing about business, you can learn together. You have already noticed how fast they are growing up, so seize the moment and get started today!
Read the article at: http://www.workitmom.com/bloggers/entrepreneurmom/2009/07/06/a-unique-education-lessons-children-of-mompreneurs-learn/
Jul
29
Should Christian Families Teach Their Daughters Business?
This was a question that I was asked recently by a very Godly mom that is seeking to raise her daughters to be godly helpmeets and keepers at home. And, you can probably guess, my answer was an emphatic “YES!”
Take a look at the Proverbs 31 woman. You knew I was going there, didn’t you? Let’s think about it for a minute. What exactly IS a proverbial “Proverbs 31” woman? For obvious reasons, I won’t go over all the qualities that proverbs 31 describes, there is a great breakdown of this proverb by specific traits on the website, http://www.proverbs31woman.com/. Unfortunately, there is very little mention of the ‘entrepreneurial’ references in that and other proverb 31 centered sites ….like found in verse 16:
“She considers a field and buys it, and from her earnings she plants a vineyard”
I’ve always wanted to do that, buy a piece of land and plant something useful we could sell. What a great homeschool project! OK, that’s beside the point, but the reference to her earnings seems to make it obvious that some trading for profit had to have been done by the Proverbs 31 woman.
Then, verse 18 says,
“She senses that her gain is good, and her lamp does not go out at night” .
I do my best work at night, and I know many, many homeschool moms that do their home business after the kids are in bed-I guess some things never change! However, can you tell me, if girls in God-fearing families didn’t teach their daughters ‘business’, how did she know her gain was good?
Verse 24 is the most obvious reference that a godly woman has entrepreneurial pursuits,
“She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.”
I think this is a fine illustration of the various ways that woman can supplement the household income by running a small home business AND that women have done this for a very, very long time.
Teaching the basics of business to our daughters is a sure way they can judge if “her gain is good”. The biggest reason so many new businesses fail is simply a lack of training. The fallacy that if you have a good enough idea, anyone can start and run a successful business and there is nothing to it, or they can learn as they go, is a recipe for failure. Give your children the basics of business and they will have a priceless advantage for the rest of their life. You never know when you might need it.
Many years ago my husband was ill for over a year and unable to work. Like many homeschooling families, he was the sole bread winner, and with 4 young children an outside job was out of the question. Even though I had been raised by a long line of entrepreneurs, I learned many of the basic lessons the hard way. Don’t assume your children will learn what they need when they need it. While it may happen that way, why not make learning the basics of home business a part of their homeschool? The money they earn could help pay for those expensive lessons they have been wanting, or add to their college funds. Most importantly, it’s a skill they will have the rest of their life.
A wonderful video presentation applying the wisdom of proverbs 31 to today’s woman:
http://proverbs31-woman.com/2008/05/18/proverbs-31-woman-a-presentation/
I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Email me or leave a comment!
Jul
28
What Parents Do In Moderation….
What parent’s do in moderation, children take to excess….
Now, that does put a little pressure on us as parents, but for me, that’s been a good thing. A while back I overheard one of my sons telling a ‘little white lie’, mostly to avoid hurting a friend’s feelings, but it was one of those “excuses” that wasn’t entirely true. In 30 years of parenting, it’s become one of my favorite mantras- “What parents do in moderation, children take to excess”.
I felt very convicted….and humbled… when I heard him make that ‘not-entirely-true’ excuse, because I knew that I had done the same thing more than once.
As a Christian, I am diligent to always speak truth the best I know it, but I admit that sometimes to avoid embarrassing situations or offending or hurting someone’s feelings, I do find myself omitting incriminating details, or manipulating the situation….truthfully, of course… to sound different than it really was. A humbling example would be my tendancy to be late, thus often highlighting an actual obstacle like excessive traffic as the cause, but really, if I had left earlier, that completely true obstacle, traffic, wasn’t really bad enough to make me as late as I was.
I now find myself being very careful to be completely truthful in all things, but before you think too highly of my intentions, I’ll be the first to tell you I slip up more than I’d like. Of course, there’s still the truths that don’t need to be told, like what you really think of someone’s new dress or haircut.
However, one of the best teaching opportunities we have as parents is letting our kids know just how human we really are. Talking to them about our slip ups and how we could’ve and should’ve said or done something differently is one of the richest teaching moments we can embrace. It’s also good for our ‘humble index’!
So the next time you notice your kids doing something you know they learned from you, make that a teaching moment….while humbling, it’s a opportunity to do “the bonding thing” that has a richness not found anywhere else. Running a business with them or along side them will certainly give you more of these “teaching moments” than you will probably want…I guarantee it!
Jul
15
Monkey See, Monkey Do…or Why Start a Home Business
Other than I thought it was really cute, I chose a monkey for our logo because it really symbolizes the “Monkey See, Monkey Do” situation homeschool parents are faced with 24/7. I have always loved monkeys, (chimps, actually) and when I was in college, I really, really wanted one for a pet. Then I got married, and ended up having kids (4 to be exact) and, well, our budget just never developed a ‘monkey’ allotment.
Children proved to be challenging enough.
If you’ve ever watched or read much about monkeys (ie chimps), then you know how smart they are, and how quickly they imitate everything they see. As a parent, I’m sure you’ve figured out that kids are the same way. So, starting a home business, regardless of how small, can be an excellent way to teach your children a multitude of skills – if only to bring them by your side as you work.
The actual business skills they might learn, of course, could be gleaned from any good business book, but the skills you can teach them on a day to day basis won’t show up in any of the business books I’ve come across. Skills like integrity, time management, prioritizing, when to bend the rules (grey area ones…) and when NOT to. They will see how you approach deciding the best business for y
our family, how you handle stress, and how you treat others, customers and ‘helpers’ alike. Most of all, teaching them integrity based on your beliefs rather than the commonly held beliefs of the world.
Having a home business brings up such a variety of real world situations that you and your children can solve together, it really is the greatest ‘curriculum’ there is. I have a good entrepreneurial-minded friend whose son was able to step into a management position with another small business shortly after (homeschool) high school graduation. It was just a small (at the time) business run by another homeschool family, but they knew this young man had business experience with his family and decided to give him a try. Long story short, he is now the general manager of up to 20 employees, and making an exceptional income for a young man his age and no ‘formal’ training.
If you don’t think you have it in you to do all it takes to start and run a home business, then maybe you know of another homeschool family that would consider some sort of apprenticeship for your son or daughter. While this is a viable option, one of our missions here at Homeschool Entrepreneur is to help all families make Entrepreneurship a part of their home school. Anyone can do it, and any vocation, interest or hobby can be utilized. While you may not get rich, your child will learn skills that will serve them the rest of the their lives. In our economy,it’s impossible to predict what’s next, but having the basics of how to work for yourself can be the most valuable subject you can teach.
Welcome to Homeschool Entrepreneur!
Equip your children with a life skill that will stay and grow in them forever. Business training in the home not only creates a natural learning environment for any age. The "Family Business" draws families together and provides opportunity for discussions you won't find in any book . . and the extra money comes in handy, too!
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