3 Entrepreneurial Traits You Should Teach Your Child

Ever think about whether you want your child to grow up to be an entrepreneur?

Even entrepreneurial adults often, consciously or not, steer their kids in a different direction.

Do well in school so you can go to a good college, get a good job, have a reliable pension, and die happy is a mindset heavily ingrained in our society.

But we all know this is changing. The “best” jobs are no longer reserved for only those with fancy degrees from higher institutions. 

Landing a job doesn’t mean that job will be around all your life. Or that you’ll have enough to live on once you reach the magical age of retirement.

While entrepreneurship definitely isn’t for everyone, there are three entrepreneurial traits we should be teaching our children throughout their lives. 

Focusing on these traits will open your child up for more options as they go out into the work force, and better equip them for success if they do decide to go the traditional route of college as a jumping off point to the most prestigious job they can land.

Play More.

Skip the “My Baby Can Read” products that miraculously have your child reading before she’s one. Opt out of the preschool that has your child sitting at a desk all day learning her letters and numbers.

Instead, seek out more opportunities for your child to play. Children learn the most about life from playing. It’s through play that they develop their individuality and creativity.

The creativity required during free play develops your child’s imagination, as well as her physical and emotional strength, language skills, and self-esteem. Play is also crucial to your child’s brain development, and is a much more effective way for her to learn than sitting at a desk and focusing on learning. 

What does playing have to do with entrepreneurship?

Creativity is a key trait of entrepreneurs, which comes as no surprise. Encouraging your child to do her learning through living will give her an edge when it comes to creativity and instill in her the all-important entrepreneurial spirit from an early age.

One important note that should be obvious is that “play” means get out and interact with the world. It doesn’t mean put all the kids in a room together and let them spend the day in front of the TV, on a video game, or with a smart phone. 

Although such activities are exactly how many kids sadly define play these days, they have the opposite effect of sparking the creativity we’re going for here. The fewer electronic devices involved in your child’s play, the more creative it will become.

Fail More.

If you have any experience as an entrepreneur, you’ve likely failed. Probably multiple times. 

And hopefully you’ve learned that failure is a good thing. That it’s through failure that we learn our biggest lessons. That we learn resilience, determination, persistence, and all kinds of other traits that serve us well in life no matter what we do.

In today’s society, the trend is to avoid failure at all costs by awarding our children a “participation medal” for just showing up. We see this in sports and school activities as well. 

The sentiment is we want everyone to feel like a winner. Because being a “loser” or “failing” can be painful for a kid.

But we do our children a disservice by teaching them that they’ll get any kind of an award for just showing up in life. 

We also do them a disservice by constantly praising everything they do and focusing only on the good and positive.

While it’s obviously important to build your child up and instill strong self-esteem, painting everything they do as perfect hurts them going forward.

It will take more time and effort on your part, but don’t be afraid to encourage your child to do things he might fail at, and to help him through the lessons when he does fail. 

If he loses a sporting event or does poorly on a school project, acknowledge the failure and teach him how it’s a good thing and how it will serve him well going forward.

If he sees himself making progress from his failures, they’ll start to hurt less and he’ll start to look at things he defines as “failures” in a much different and more positive light.

Dream More.

If you think about it, kids spend way too much of their lives being told what they can’t do.

We think it’s cute to ask young children what they want to be when they grow up. 

We smile at their responses and tell them that’s great, but then spend most of our time encouraging them in other directions if their current vision appears too unlikely.

With many schools now obsessively focused on the results of their standardized testing that allegedly measures how well they’re teaching our kids, there is little to no time for them to pursue their dreams from the time they walk through the school doors at age five.

Instead of drilling your child on her multiplication tables at night, talk to her about goals and work with her to find ways to meet the goals she has to get to where she wants to be in life. 

Teach her that anything’s possible, because it is. Stop telling her to be realistic.

Hopefully, she will have some unrealistic goals. You’ve never met an entrepreneur who didn’t. 

And yes, she’ll fail at reaching some of these goals, but that’s okay, as we saw above.

Every entrepreneur’s story starts with a dream they refused to give up. And even if your child doesn’t ultimately choose the entrepreneurial path, teaching her to pursue her dreams will serve her in all aspects of her life and lead her to being happier with everything she does.

One of the great things about KidsPartyCharacters.com is that it’s the kind of business your kids will love to be involved in. Instead of complaining about you working, they’ll be by your side asking to help, and soaking up all the entrepreneurial goodness while you get your work done!

As you may know, KidsPartyCharacters.com owner Cheryl Jacobs is now making it possible for you to own your very own KidsPartyCharacters.com business. She is offering a limited number of memberships that give you an exclusive area in which to book parties, the right to use all of our 200+ costumes, access to our casting director and acting coach, and full business training and support from Cheryl and the KidsPartyCharacters.com team.

If you’re a stay at home mom who’d like to create an income on your own terms, or an entrepreneur looking for another opportunity, a KidsPartyCharacters.com membership might be the perfect opportunity for you. 

Book a no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here, and she’ll talk you through whether this is the right opportunity for your life.

Want to see more about what a Kids Party Character business looks like? Connect with us on Facebook for daily updates on what goes on here at KidsPartyCharacters.com.

One Simple Productivity Tool For Work at Home Moms

One of the biggest battles work at home moms face is how to be productive at home. Juggling the responsibilities of caring for your kids and your house, along with doing the work that pays, is as hard as it sounds.

The first step in making sure that at least the important things get done is to make a to-do list each day that you are faithful to. 

But if you make your list in the morning, and then just hope you’ll have time to get through it all by the end of the day, you’ll often fail. 

Successful productivity requires that you have a system or plan for how you’ll get it all done. 

One of the simplest systems, which has been endorsed by some of the most highly productive people in business, is known as the Pomodoro Technique. The practice works nicely for work at home moms because it builds in time for the many distractions we have.

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, the Pomodoro Technique is a time management practice that gets its name from the tomato-shaped kitchen time Cirillo used to time his work while he was a university student. (Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato).

There are Six Steps in this Technique

1. Determine what task you’ll do.

2. Set your pomodoro timer for 25 minutes.

3. Work on your task. 

4. When the timer rings, stop and put a check mark on a piece of paper.

5. If you have fewer than 4 checkmarks, take a 5 min break, and start again at step 2.

6. When you get 4 checkmarks, or pomodoros, take a longer break (up to 30 minutes), reset your checkmarks to zero, and start again at step 1.

Why Does the Pomodoro Technique Work?

Why so many people have found this method to be so effective is a longer discussion for another day. 

What you need to know to start implementing the technique is that it works to train your brain to focus. With practice, you’ll find that your attention span and concentration levels have naturally increased.

For maximum effectiveness, it’s important to actually make the checkmark on the piece of paper, rather than just remembering in your head which pomodoro this is.

Although several apps labeling themselves as pomodoro timers have been developed, according to Cirillo, the physical act of winding up the timer sets your determination to start the task, and the ticking of the timer externalizes the desire to complete the task,

So working with an actual hand-held timer is best at least as you begin the process of training your brain for productivity. Although, the shape of the timer appears to be irrelevant to your success!

What to Do When You’re Interrupted

You can’t hit pause on your timer and come back to complete your 25 minutes. You either have to abandon the pomodoro, or delay whatever attempts to distract you doing a pomodoro.

Cirillo recommends the following method for dealing with distractions:

1. Inform the person (in our case it’s certainly your child) that you’re working on something right now.

2. Negotiate a time to get back with them to address their need.

3. Call back the person when your pomodoro is complete and you can tackle the distraction.

Of course handling all distractions that efficiently is a dream, so you may just have to abandon your pomodoro and start over after you’ve worked through the distraction. 

How Moms Can Make the Pomodoro Technique Work

Like most things in the business world, this technique wasn’t created for work at home moms. Also like most things, it’s fine to be flexible with it.

If you find that you’re getting interrupted 21 minutes into most of your pomodoros, change your timer from 25 to 20 minutes. 

Just be consistent. If 20 minutes is your sweet spot, always do 20 minutes.

If you can only get two pomodoros in a row done, don’t abandon the technique as something that doesn’t work for you. 

Do two, or even one, it will still be the most productive time of your day. You may also find you get better at this technique over time, as with most things.

Need a 7 minute break in between to talk to a child or switch out the laundry? Take it. 

There’s nothing magical about a 5 minute break. Just make your break short so you don’t lose focus completely and get pulled away from the task you’ve set out to complete.

The nice thing about the Pomodoro Technique for moms is that the short intervals mean you can also set a timer for your kids and have them engage in something just until the timer goes off. Then they’re free to come to you with any distraction they may have.

This is much more satisfying for everyone than having to say “just a minute” every 5 minutes, when you both know “a minute” really might mean an hour!

Looking for Some Extra Income?

If you’re a work at home mom looking for more opportunities, or a stay at home mom with the itch to create some outside interest and income, at KidsPartyCharacters.com we may have the perfect business for you.

Owner Cheryl Jacobs has recently decided to help others cut down the amount of time and money it takes to get started with your own business by making a limited number of KidsPartyCharacters.com memberships available.

What’s included with your membership? An exclusive territory in which you can book parties, the right to use our over 200 unique costumes, access to our casting director, business training, and ongoing support from Cheryl and the Kids Party Characters team.

You set your hours and work as much or little as you want in this business. You’ll also find the business so much fun that your kids will want to get involved rather than complaining about mommy working.

If you think a KidsPartyCharacters.com membership might be the right fit for your life, schedule a no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll help answer your questions and give you all the details.

To see more about all the fun we make happen at KidsPartyCharacters.com, also connect with us on Facebook.

The Biggest Reason to Invite Kids Party Characters to Your Next Party

When it comes to planning your child’s birthday party, you have an endless number of choices. And making the right choice is pretty important. 

This isn’t like many things in life where mistakes can be corrected the next day, next week, or even the next month.

When you hire someone to help make your child’s birthday party magic, and instead they make it tragic, you’ve got a whole year before you can make it right! 

And, you’re left filled with disappointment, perhaps even anger, and a permanent story about how it all went wrong at Janie’s 5th birthday party.

Here at KidsPartyCharacters.com, we get that. We know how important it is to get all the details just right so that your child’s day is filled with constant smiles and everlasting memories.

In addition to our attention to detail, one of the biggest things that sets us apart from other children’s entertainment businesses is our costumes. 

When you invite one of our over 200 characters to be your child’s birthday guest of honor, you won’t find our actors showing up in a getup that looks like it was pulled out of a plastic bag from Halloween City.

Each of our costumes is handmade from vibrant, quality fabrics and eye-popping attention to detail that no other company offers. 

Meet the Kids Party Characters Princess Collection

Some of our most popular costumes are our selection of princesses. 

Although the photographs don’t fully capture how beautiful they are in real life, you’re going to meet some of the Kids Party Characters princesses today so you can get a glimpse of why you can’t go wrong making KidsPartyCharacters.com your go-to choice for all you kids’ birthday celebrations.

When your child decides to invite a princess to her birthday party, she’ll have 21 options to choose from!

She can choose a more traditional princess, one that reminds her of some of the fairy tales she’s heard and grown to love, or she can choose a princess whose story she can create completely from her own imagination.

In addition to quality, another thing that makes our costumes so special is their uniqueness. 

Because our costumes don’t come out of a box, but instead have a one-of-a-kind look and feel, it allows your child to adopt her special guest as her princess. Her princess can have whatever special powers and characteristics your child’s imagination desires.

Your child can write her own unique story of her princess leading up to and throughout the party, which makes it all the more special for her and her guests.

Let’s take a look at just a few of the princesses she’ll have to choose from when you visit KidsPartyCharacters.com to plan her next party.

Red Dress Princess

Yellow Princess

Hawaiian Princess

Purple Princess

Asian Princess

Tower Princess

Frog Princess

Native American Princess

Also, while they are officially part of our "Princess" collection, we've included some Princes that will also spark your child's imagination and help bring it to life at her party. Meet the Egyptian Prince, our Charming Prince, and Peter!

Egyptian Prince

Charming Prince

Peter

Remember this is just a handful or our Princesses costumes, and a tiny fraction of the 200+ handmade costumes we have to choose from. You can see the entire collection here at KidsPartyCharacters.com.

You can also choose from packages that include face painting, balloon artistry, magic shows, cotton candy, and vending machines.

As you can tell, when you choose a KidsPartyCharacters.com party, we truly do all the work, allowing you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the fun with your child and her guests.

In addition, KidsPartyCharacters.com owner, Cheryl Jacobs, has recently decided to offer a limited number of memberships to Kids Party Characters. 

Membership means you get your own Kids Party Characters business, including the right to use all of our unique costumes, as well as an exclusive area in which to book parties.

This is the perfect opportunity for many stay at home moms, or entrepreneurs looking to add a second income stream. Your membership also includes business training and full support from Cheryl and the entire team at KidsPartyCharacters.com.

If you want to talk more about whether membership might be a good fit for your life, book a friendly chat with Cheryl right here, and she'll give you all the details as well as answering all of your questions.

We're excited to create magical memories for your child and his or her guests at your next party!

What to Do When You Feel Like a Bad Mom

As you’ve probably figured out, parenting is both the most rewarding and frustrating endeavor you’ll ever undertake in life. 

Many people refer to it as a “job,” especially for stay at home moms and dads, but the pay is zero (in fact it costs more than you’ll seemingly ever have!), and there is no option to quit, ever. 

Parenting is an adventure like no other. The most incredible highs in your life, and the most painful lows usually come from your experience as a parent.

We all have days when we feel as if we’ve completely failed at being a mom. When we’re thankful that it’s not a job, because we would certainly be fired.

Some days we can laugh it off, but sometimes it becomes more serious, and we question whether our parenting choices are harming our kids. 

When you do have those serious “bad mom” days, it’s important to work yourself out of them. If you don’t, things tend to snowball and you start doubting all your parenting choices. 

This is bad for you, and for your children. 

The good news is, “bad mom” syndrome is all in your head, so with a little shift in mindset, you can get through it.

Being Conscious is Half the Battle

One of the funny things about being a mom is if you think you’re doing a bad job at it, you probably aren’t!

The fact that you are thinking about the choices you make and how you parent, in itself, goes a long way towards making you a good mom.

So when you have those thoughts of, “Should I have done that? I’m a bad mom!” just immediately turn it around in your head. 

Remind yourself that the fact that you are consciously trying to do the right things and make the right decisions when it comes to parenting, means you are on the right track.

Trust Your Gut

Chances are, you will screw it up now and again. We aren’t striving for perfection here. 

Relax, both you and your child will survive your bad moves, and you always have a chance to course correct. (Remember, you can’t be fired from this gig.)

The best playbook you have for parenting is your gut. There’s a reason we’ve all heard the saying “trust your gut.” In parenting, your gut should be your bible.

When you became a parent, one of the unseen things that came with your little bundle of joy was an innate sense of what’s right and wrong for your child. 

The problem is, too many moms don’t use this gift. They look for some external answer. But if you’ll just sit and let yourself “feel things out” you’ll come to a conclusion you can trust. 

With practice, you’ll never feel like a bad mom when you’ve made a gut-based decision. 

Remember You Don’t See the B Roll

The reason many of us have trouble trusting our gut is that we look too much at what other people are doing.

This has become a real problem since everyone started living their lives on social media. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest . . . they’re all filled with everyone’s perfect mom moments.

But remember, what you see on social media, and the stories you hear moms tell is the highlight reel of their lives. 

The real stuff is the b roll, that’s the stuff that’s left behind on the cutting room floor because it’s not good enough for the world to see.

Never judge your decisions or your worthiness as a parent by comparing yourself to someone else. I guarantee you, many of those people you’d deem to be “better moms” than you have b roll footage that would make you feel like Mary Poppins.

Connect with Those Who Do Show the B Roll

To keep from judging your parenting skills based on what others show off, it’s important to connect with like-minded moms who will show you their b roll.

A few close mom friends, or even just one, can keep you grounded and rational on the really tough parenting days.

There are many different parenting styles and beliefs, so you’ll have to do a little searching and make sure you connect with like-minded moms, but they are out there! 

Facebook groups and local moms groups are a great way to start meeting people that can turn into your b roll buddies.

Revisit Your Successes

When you are having a bad day, and thinking that no matter what anyone says, you may just be the worst mom alive, revisit your parenting successes.

Write them down. Make a list of 25 things you’ve done right in your life as a mom. 

And don’t be too hard on yourself. Making them breakfast rather than shoving them out the door with a snickers bar in hand is a success!

And if you’ll sit down and take just 10 minutes to write out the good stuff, it will help put your bad day in perspective. 

KidsPartyCharacters.com can help add to your list of successes, too! When you book your child’s next party with us, you’ll get her choice of over 200 characters to come as her special party guest, along with packages that include face painting, balloon artistry, and more. 

At KidsPartyCharacters.com, we handle the entertainment so you can join in the fun. Visit our website to start planning your child’s next party today.

And, connect with us on Facebook to keep up with all the magic we’re bringing to children’s parties each week, and to gather ideas and inspirations for your next event.

Is Your Customer Always Right?

As with any business, one of the most important aspects of your work from home business is going to be customer service. Especially in the era of social media, customer service can truly make or break your business.

You may be thinking, I have an honest business that provides a solid service and I always treat people right. So customer service won't really be an issue for me.

While certainly it helps to be good at what you do and to always operate with your customer's best interests in mind, you are unfortunately wrong if you think this alone will save you from having customer service issues.

The best way to deal with any issues that do arise is to have a plan in place for how you handle customer complaints.

If you are prepared, it will keep you from reacting emotionally to the situation and doing or saying something you might regret.

There are several things to consider when developing your customer service plan.

Is the Customer Always Right?

You've probably heard the saying, "the customer is always right." It's a motto that many big businesses have long-adopted, and teach their employees in dealing with customers.

In deciding whether you want to have this policy in your business, consider the obvious first. The customer isn't always right. 

And there are some customers who are just not worth any money they do bring to your business, usually because they cost you more in time than they will ever add to your bank balance.

Having a starting point of "the customer is always right" can make some situations very hard to deal with. "The customer deserves to be treated respectfully" may be a better place for you to start with each customer service interaction.

Your Money Back Guarantee

One policy you'll want to have clear on your website, in your contracts, in whatever way you present your business to potential clients is your refund policy.

It doesn't matter what this policy is, as much as it matters that it's clearly conveyed to your potential customer before you do business together.

Your refund policy will depend on what you're selling. If it's a service, you obviously aren't going to offer a refund after the service is fully rendered, provided the customer has gotten what she paid for. But do make it clear how far in advance the customer is required to cancel, and what portion of the fee will be returned in the event of a cancellation.

If you're selling a product, consider what's a fair amount of time to give your customer to try out the product and double that as your refund period. 

You want to be seen as having a generous return policy, but you don't have to allow people to take advantage of you.

On the other hand, don't stress about giving refunds or honoring cancellations. If you're doing business right, it won't happen often. 

And, it's usually the best thing for you when you do honor a refund request, as the customer wasn't a good fit for you anyway.

So in some instances, don't even worry if the customer is taking advantage of you, refund and move on. It will save you time and money in the end.

As a general rule, if you feel like a refund will make the customer go away as quickly and quietly as possible, do it. And turn your attention to customers that are a good fit for your business.

Customer Service on Social Media

One of the biggest issues for your business today is the popularity of social media. It's like handing each of your customers a bullhorn and asking them to step up and shout out their feelings about your business to the world.

Usually this is a great thing, as you can easily gather public testimonials from happy customers.

Unfortunately, when a customer is unhappy, he tells an average of 10 people, compared to telling only 4 people when he's happy with you.

The most likely person to take the bullhorn and talk about you on social media is the dissatisfied customer. So you need to have a plan in place for how to handle this person.

When someone lodges a complaint about you on social media, you should always respond and indicate your disappointment with the fact that they aren't satisfied and your desire to change this.

Invite them to contact you directly through the direct message feature of whichever social media platform they're using.

Don't slug it out in public with them. If your customer is the kind of person who wants to publicly tear you down, you will never win an argument on social media with her.

Do everything you reasonably can to resolve the situation privately. If she continues to troll you on social media, simply block her and walk away.

Your other customers and prospects understand that not everyone is rational, and will respect your polite dealing with and need to block someone who's clearly intent on bashing you no matter what you do.

Remember that it's Inevitable

If you have a customer service plan in place for dealing with unsatisfied customers, you'll be less likely to let your emotions take over when a complaint does come in.

Remember that even if you're the best, even if you provide perfect service, there's always going to be that occasional bad apple intent on ruining your reputation.

"You can't please everyone" is something to keep top of mind here. 

Have a policy that allows you to deal with complaints quickly, correct everything that you can, and move on to those you can serve.

If you're looking for a business that gives you full training and support on how to deal with all aspects of running a work from home business, KidsPartyCharacters.com may have just what you're looking for. 

Cheryl Jacobs, owner of Kids Party Characters, has spent six years building up her successful business and is now offering a limited number of memberships to KidsPartyCharacters.com.

Membership gives you an exclusive territory in which to book parties, the right to use our 200+ costumes, access to our casting director and acting coach, and the full support of the entire team at KidsPartyCharacters.com, which is so important as you learn the ropes of having a new business.

Book your no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here at KidsPartyCharacters.com, On the call, Cheryl will use her experience to help you decide whether this business is a good fit for you.

See more about how fun and rewarding having your own KidsPartyCharacters.com business can be by connecting with us on Facebook too.

5 Foods You Shouldn’t Feed Your Children

Being told what you shouldn't feed your children may make you angry. Let’s face it, most of us know we’re feeding our kids thing we shouldn’t. 

And yes, what if life were “perfect” and we could organically grow all of our family’s non-GMO food in our backyard garden . . . well, for 99.9% of us, ain’t gonna happen.

So, we do the best we can. 

Food manufacturers know that moms have become much more conscious about what they feed their children, so they’ve come up with some misleading little one-liners to highlight the front of the packages in an attempt to make us feel good about bad food.

Here we’re going to highlight the foods you’re probably being misled on, and offer up some better choices.

1. Fruit Snacks: But they’ve got the word “fruit” in them, they can’t be all bad, right?

Have you ever wondered why those packages of fruit snacks are so small? Because they’re basically just little bags of sugar. And even the manufacturer knows better than to give your kid a potato-chip-sized bag of those.

The front of the box usually says “made with real fruit” or “made with real fruit juice,” which doesn’t save them from being little bags of sugar. Nor do the “all natural” and “no artificial preservatives or flavors” tags that have become so popular.

Yes, fruit snacks are a quick and easy choice. But they aren’t much better than handing your kid a candy bar. And no kid eats a pack of fruit snacks and finds his need for a snack satisfied.

The better choice, real fruit. It’s really no harder or more expensive to eat an apple, orange, banana, or some grapes. 

2. Breakfast Cereal: Because who has time to make a “real” breakfast? And you really can’t go wrong with cereal, there’s a flavor for every different taste out there. Unlike fixing different dinners to please each child’s palate, it’s easy to offer different boxes of cereal to each child.

So the advantages are high here, but many cereals are again just like eating candy. Yes they may be “made with whole grains,” and “fortified with Vitamin C” and other vitamins and minerals that your kids aren’t lacking in anyway.

But, none of that can make up for the fact that 90% of them (which is not a scientific number but has to be a close guess!) have more sugar than your child should have in an entire day.

We’ve already established that we likely live outside that perfect world where we can wake up 30 minutes earlier to prepare a healthy breakfast and then clean up the kitchen every morning.

What you can do is make better choices. Look for cereals that have under five grams of sugar per serving. You can liven up some of the more “boring” cereals by adding fresh fruit.

And really, a quick bowl of oatmeal or a piece of peanut butter toast doesn’t take that much longer then a bowl of cereal, and is definitely worth the extra few minutes on those days that allow.

3. Flavored Yogurt: This is another one of those “I’m feeding my kids yogurt, that sounds healthy” kind of foods. But the things they’ve done to yogurt these days make many of the most popular brands anything but healthy.

Hopefully you can see why it’s wise to pass up those with Oreos or M&Ms on the bottom, but even the more seemingly healthy ones are usually a minefield of added sugar. 

Stick to the non-flavored and Greek-style yogurts and add in your own fruit or healthy granola to make them appeal to your children.

4. Granola Bars: Any kind of bar is SUCH an easy way to satisfy a child desperate for a snack. They fit so nicely in your purse and require no work on your part. And hey, granola is what crunchy, healthy, all-natural people eat, right?

Except for, as with many things, food manufacturers have taken this potentially healthy snack and added things to it to make it almost as appealing (and as unhealthy) as a candy bar.

Popular granola bars today include little fiber and protein and lots of added sugar. 

You don’t have to give up the granola bar, but you should likely give up the ones that are your kids’ favorites. Look for bars that have actual fruits, nuts, and granola in them. Avoid those with corn syrup and other added sugars in them.

You can also make your own. I know, this takes the ease out of them, but give it a try. Taking an hour on Sunday to do this will have you set for the week. And have you feeling much better about the snack you’re giving your kids.

You can customize the recipe to fit your kids' needs. Here’s a good starter recipe to get you going. Check the reviews for ways to make the recipe even healthier.

5. Soda and Juice: Again we’re back to our old friend sugar here. Like fruit snacks, fruit juices are giving you none of the benefits of eating a piece of fruit. 

A juice box is a little box of sugar, like the fruit snack is a little bag of sugar. And the number of calories found in a juice box, which are mostly from the sugar fructose, is unacceptably high.

So don’t let the “100% juice” label fool you. They’re still 100% sugar too!

As for soda, you probably already know this, but so many kids are drinking it, that it’s worth reminding you of just how bad it is. 

Soda has been linked to diabetes, obesity, and behavioral issues in children. Your average bottle of soda has around 60 grams of sugar in it, which is four times the amount your child should be having in an entire day.

There are several other toxic ingredients in soda that we could talk about all day, but let’s just say there’s all kinds of bad in there and zero nutrition, which makes this one an especially big no-no.

A lot of what your child drinks is habit. So make water a habit and she will love it. For something a little different, try unsweetened bubbly waters, which will give her the fizz and a little flavor without all the yucky stuff found in soda.

In the Real World

You may find that when you try to completely deprive your child of something, this increases their desire for it. Having some foods that aren’t ideal is going to come out of necessity and can be saved for special occasions.

Don’t sell these things to your children as a “treat” though. Let them know that we only have this food once in awhile because it’s not good for us. As they get older, they may decide it’s really not that tasty anyway, and certainly not worth the adverse effects of eating it.

At KidsPartyCharacters.com, we know all about special occasions and splurging a bit. We have over 200 handmade costumes to choose from, and packages that include face painting and balloon artists. Stop by our website to start planning your next party. 

Your guests will be so entertained by a KidsPartyCharacter.com show that you could serve them broccoli and warm water and they’d still go home raving about you throwing the best party ever! (Although seriously, we’re not opposed to a little less-than-healthy birthday cake!)

Join us on Facebook too, for ideas and inspirations to make your child’s next party perfectly magical. 

10 Summer Planning Tips For Work at Home Moms

Ah Summer! As kids we rolled our eyes when the adults talked about how “time flies” and how fast we were growing up.

But as with so many things, the adults were right about this one! It’s hard to believe the kids are about to leave another grade behind and the little ones are that much closer to starting school.

There’s much excitement in the air. Excitement that can quickly turn to terror when you stop and realize they’re going to be home all. day. long. 

The free babysitting is over and they’re all yours once again.

Don’t worry if you’re feeling a little guilty for secretly wishing they’d keep disappearing for 7 hours every day. 

Chances are, your business doesn’t have a summer break. And shuffling the kids off to camps all day every day so you can keep up your work routine can be as expensive as private school.

Fear not. As with most things, all it takes is a little conscious planning and you can have a cheap, fun, amazing summer with your kids and still keep your business momentum strong.

Follow these 10 tips for your summer planning and activities, and both you and the kids will have your best summer yet.

1. Set Expectations: Life is about to change radically for your children. But for you, it’s business as usual. 

Have a little sit down and remind your kids that as thrilled as you are for their impending freedom, you’ll still be working so that they can eat more than ramen noodles all summer.

Share your work schedule and your availability with them. Let them know what to expect from you and what you expect from them.

If last minute plans don’t work for you, tell them how many hours or days notice you need if they expect a ride or some other involvement from you. 

2. Get Your Children Involved in Your Business: You can avoid many of the complaints and eye-rolling accompanied by “mom’s working again” if you’ll get your kids invested in your business success.

Depending on their age, share a part of your business with them. It can be a story about how you’re helping someone and what an impact it will have in that client’s life.

It can be a monetary goal you’ve set for the summer. The best ones include a little treat for them. Something like, “As soon as I finish this project I was thinking I’d have enough left over to buy you a trampoline.” 

Their excitement level for your work will skyrocket.

For the older kids, you can actually find small tasks for them to help with your business. Just make sure it’s something they enjoy doing.

3. Set a Goal For Your Child: Get your child invested in completing something over the summer. Make sure it’s something that peaks her interest so you won’t spend your days nagging her about it.

Sign her up for the library’s summer reading club, encourage her to write a book, draw a cartoon, sew a quilt.

Work with her to come up with a project that takes awhile but is still fun. You can even make up a chart where she can mark off and track her progress. Include small treats as rewards for milestones along the way.

If the outcome of completing the project isn’t a sufficient enough reward, establish some type of satisfying prize she’ll receive when the goal is reached.

4. Stick to a Routine: Routines can be hard for us entrepreneur types, but children thrive on them (as do adults, actually). 

While every week may not look the same over the summer, keep consistent with bed times and other parts of the day.

If there seems to be a lot of chaos in a particular day or week, let your child know what tomorrow will look like when he goes to bed, and review the upcoming day when he gets up in the morning.

5. Family Calendar: Keep a calendar somewhere that everyone can see it. Write down your commitments and each child’s commitments and activities. Use a different color for each child.

This makes it easy for your child to quickly check in and see what’s going on each day. 

The family calendar will also be the first thing she looks at when trying to make plans. It will save you time and cut down on the frustration of hearing you say you can’t drive her to the movies that night because Johnny has soccer.

It’s also a great lesson in learning how to manage and plan her time.

6. Get Outside: Schedule some outside time with your kids every day (or most days at least!) Make this part of your summer routine. 

This can be as simple as a 15 minute walk. 

Getting outside with your kids is a nice way to give yourself a break and to spend some quality time with your child. 

It feels good to be outside so your child will look forward to this. And, it’s just a simple activity that gives you a chance to connect and almost guarantees to result in everyone feeling good about it.

7. Camps!: Try to do at least a week or two of summer camp. Your child will need this break from you as much as you’ll need it from him.

The good thing is, the number of summer camps available is almost endless. Do a google search for “summer camps in <your city>.” There’s likely a website or two that gathers most of the possibilities in one place.

Start this process now for best selection and to find lower priced options if this is a consideration. Most camps offer a limited number of scholarships, but you need to apply early. Don’t be afraid to ask if you could use the financial help, that’s what the scholarships are there for. 

Getting these camps on the family calendar as soon as possible also gives your child something to look forward to as summer begins. 

8. Do the Free: Kids tend to see summer break as a summer-long vacation. It can get pretty pricey when you’re expected to come up with some entertainment for your child each and every day.

If you haven’t spent much time researching this, you’ll be amazed at how many free activities there are in your community. Spend an hour at the computer and you can fill the weeks with free concerts in the park, community days, and one day workshops and activities for the kids.

Your local library and your city’s website are good places to start looking for free activities. 

9. Do a Service Project: Find some way for your child to help her community or other people and schedule this as a weekly activity. 

You may have to do a little digging, but these opportunities are out there. Local churches, community centers in disadvantaged areas, and food pantries are good places to start calling and asking if they know of volunteer opportunities for kids.

It could be something as traditional as spending a day serving lunch to those in need, mentoring or tutoring younger kids, or even making crafts such as baby blankets for the crisis nursery.

Work with your child as to what her interests are here, then get on the phone and see what’s out there. This will provide your child with a very rewarding experience and a positive memory of her summer break.

10. Plan a Wrap Up: At the beginning of summer, schedule an end of summer celebration with your kids. This can be a weekend getaway or a cheap staycation. 

Again, it gives them something to look forward to and can be something they work on planning throughout the summer. 

Where you go and what you do can even change as the summer progresses if you come up with better possibilities. 

This is just another great way to connect with your kids by including them in the process of planning the details. It can also motivate good behavior and lift their spirits when they have those inevitable summer moments of “I’m bored.”

In a Nutshell, Have a Plan

Whatever you do for the summer, plan as much as possible and include the kids in the planning. 

This doesn’t have to be vacation-style planning. It can be as simple as, every Wednesday morning, we walk to the park and play for a couple of hours. 

You’ll just want to avoid waking up every morning and thinking, “How am I going to get through this day with these kids?” That’s no fun for them or you.

Summer is also a great time to start your own children’s entertainment business with KidsPartyCharacters.com. Company owner Cheryl Jacobs is making a limited number of memberships available that allow you to license your own Kids Party Character business.

If you think summer is too hectic of a time to start a business, get on a no-pressure call with Cheryl and discover how easy she’s made it for you to have a fun business that your kids will love so much they probably won’t want to go back to school!

A membership with KidsPartyCharacters.com gives you an exclusive area in which to book parties, the right to use all 200 plus KidsPartyCharacter.com costumes, access to our casting director and actors, and full support and training from Cheryl and the whole team at KidsPartyCharacters.com. 

Membership could also give you some much-enjoyed extra spending money for the summer. 

Summer is actually the ideal time to get your KidsPartyCharacters.com business started, and you can work as much or as little as you’d like. Book a chat with Cheryl on our website and she’ll help you figure out whether this is the right opportunity for you.

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook too, and keep up to date with all the fun we’ll be bringing to children’s summer parties. You might even get a little inspiration for planning your child’s next party!

How to Find a Mindfulness Practice Your Child Will Love

“The present moment holds infinite riches beyond your wildest dreams.” ~  Jean-Pierre de Caussade (French priest) 

Life is busy. Deciding what activities, events, and lessons your child needs to ensure he grows up healthy, happy, and well-adjusted is something no mom ever feels like she completely masters.

Among your many choices, one you should give some focus to is teaching your child about mindfulness. It doesn’t take much time and it will benefit you too.

Start on mindfulness as early as you can, before your child is old enough to declare it “boring.” No worries if you’re too late for this, we’re going to talk about some fun ways to engage him despite any initial resistance.

Why Mindfulness?

Out of all the things you could choose to introduce your child to, why should mindfulness be at the top of your list?

The benefits of mindfulness are so numerous that we could spend all day talking about them. Since practicing mindfulness will serve both you and your child much better,  we’ll just hit the highlights and get on with the practice.

According to the experts that conduct all the sophisticated studies, children who engage in mindfulness are better able to focus and pay attention, even those who suffer from diagnoses such as ADHD.

The mindful child is also happier with herself and her social environment, able to handle teasing from other kids more effectively, displays better judgment, is more empathetic, less stressed, and may even perform better in school.

And the bonus of mindfulness is that it’s a gift that will serve you well all through your adult life too.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is simple. It’s any practice that helps you focus on the present moment in an accepting and non-judgmental way.

So You Want My Kid to Meditate?

Meditation often jumps to the front of mom’s mind when we think about practicing mindfulness. While some kids are born meditators, many will reject it as “weird” and “boring.” 

Don’t let this depress you if you’re a meditator, they may come around!

The good news is, mindfulness does not have to involve any activity that is officially labeled meditation.

So what types of mindfulness might actually interest your child? 

Here are a few ideas that have proven popular among kids.

Finger Labyrinths

A finger labyrinths is a small version of the walking labyrinth in the above picture. Walking labyrinths are excellent for mindfulness, and you just might find one if you have a botanical gardens in your city.

Absent the “real thing,” or in addition to it, the finger labyrinth can be as simple as a picture of a labyrinth that you’ve download and printed following a Google search.

Many kids like sand labyrinths because the feeling of the sand is relaxing and a nice sensory boost.

Whether it’s sand or just paper, have your child take a finger from her non-dominate hand and trace through the labyrinth. There is no right way to go, just encourage your child to trace different paths. 

Using a labyrinth that is pleasing to her eyes will help get her interested in the activity at first.

Try this when she’s bored, stressed, or even angry, and the immediate benefits will help her develop a fondness for the activity.

4x4 Breathing

Have your child breathe in for four counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts, and rest for 4 counts. Have him use a finger from one hand to draw a box on his other hand, constructing one side for each 4 count. 

This is a great exercise for the brain, and your child will learn to like it because (although he may not consciously realize it) it has the effect of sending happy gas to his brain!

Annaka Harris Activities

Annaka Harris specializes in mindfulness for children. Head to her website here and try out some of the short hearing, breathing, seeing, and visualizing exercises she has for children. 

The site contains audios for your child to listen to and follow along with her, which makes it much more engaging than asking them to read something on their own.

Apps

This is a tricky one, because the main reason our children need mindfulness is likely the invasion of TV, video games, cell phones and iPads into their lives.

Ideally, your child’s mindfulness practice should be screen-free. But, if he’s willing to give meditation a go, here are three quality apps that only require looking at the screen to turn the music on.

Smiling Mind: The product of an Australian company that’s aiming to have mindfulness meditation as part of the school curriculum, this  free app provides a good variety of 5-10 minute sessions for ages 7 through adult. (iOS only)

Calm: This is a great app for adults because it has a large selection of free meditations of all kinds, guided and unguided. For your child, you’ll want to check out the Calm Kids section, where you’ll find calming techniques and sleep stories for your child. There is paid content available, but it’s not necessary at all.

Mindfulness for Children: Nice relaxing guided meditations for kids that include breathing and visualization exercises. There is an upgrade available that unlocks some nice additional content, but the free content is worthy for kids who prefer an interactive meditation. (Android download here)

Remember to Have Fun

Don’t give your child a lot of guidance here unless she wants it. There’s no right way to learn mindfulness. 

Offer your child different choices for learning mindfulness and stick with what appeals to her. Remember, if you try to force it on her, it will end up creating more stress and anxiety, the opposite of what you’re aiming for!

Whatever mindfulness practice your child goes with, you’ll want to have it on hand before her birthday party starts if you book with KidsPartyCharacters.com. With over 200 characters to choose from, she’ll have no trouble finding her favorite to invite as her special party guest. 

Admittedly, not even some mindfulness practice will be able to calm her excitement and anticipation when her character arrives with cotton candy, balloon art, and face painting. Find the right party package for your child at KidsPartyCharacters.com and start planning her party today. 

Prepare to sit back and enjoy all the crazy excitement while KidsPartyCharacters.com takes care of all the entertainment and details. 

Looking for ideas? Connect with us on Facebook for examples of how KidsPartyCharacters.com can bring your child’s party to life.

How having a Happy Morning Routine is so Important to Start Your Kids Day

Here’s What Your Kids Party Characters Business Looks Like

By now I’m sure you’ve heard that KidsPartyCharacters.com owner Cheryl Jacobs has decided to make it easy for you to start your own business.

After six years of learning from her own mistakes, and testing and tweaking things to provide the best experiences for her clients, Cheryl has decided to offer memberships to KidsPartyCharacters.com.

What exactly is a Kids Party Characters membership?

Membership basically allows you to start your own children’s entertainment business without all of the time and expense that normally goes into a startup company.

You’ll have an exclusive territory in which you can book parties, rights to use the over 200 Kids Party Characters costumes, access to our trained actors, and ongoing business support from Cheryl and the entire team at KidsPartyCharacters.com.

It’s as close to a “done for you” business as you can get. 

Interested in knowing what you’ll be doing in the day-to-day activities of your Kids Party Characters business? 

Let’s go through it step-by-step so you can see how fun the business is, and how well-suited it is for stay at home moms, as well as others looking for a second business.

1. Call of interest: The first contact with your client naturally comes when they call to find out what you have to offer.

You find out which of the 200+ characters they’re interested in, as well as which of the four available party packages best suits their needs. Packages are priced from $200-$325.

Some of the big selling points during this initial conversation are the fact that all of our costumes are handmade, and all of our actors handpicked. The actors are trained by Cheryl herself and required to attend parties with her before being sent out on their own.

2. Contact the actors: Once you know which characters your client wants, you begin contacting the appropriate actors by phone call or text to determine their availability and get them booked for the party. 

3. Get costumes and other supplies ready: A typical weekend can consist of 20-30 parties, although how many you want to book is certainly up to you. Costumes and other party supplies are kept all together in a big warehouse.

Depending on what packages your clients have chosen, you’ll load up the costumes, along with vending machines, cotton candy, snow cone, and popcorn machines, and supplies for balloon twisting and face painting. 

4. Prepare goody bags: Another feature you’ll offer that other companies don’t is a goody bag for each child. The bag consists of a balloon, lollipop, toy, and your business card.

There are two purposes for the goody bag. First, children up until the age of eight believe that the character who’s come to the party is real. They love the experience of getting a gift from that special character. 

Second, this is the perfect way to advertise your business while giving the kids something they enjoy at the same time. The guests at the party are going to want your information for their party. The goody bag is the perfect way to supply it before they even have to ask.

5. Deliver the costumes and other supplies: The next step is to get the actors what they need for their parties. You can go directly to the actor’s home if it’s convenient, or set up a meeting place for those who may be in another area. 

6. Confirm the party the Monday before it happens: This step just guarantees that the date and all the details are correct. You can’t risk anything going wrong on the big day of the party. This is your last hands-on involvement in the party.

7. Character arrival: On party day, the superheroes and princesses will arrive in costume. Mascot costumes can be bulky and impossible to drive in, so they’ll arrive about 15 minutes early to change into their costumes.

8. Getting started with music: Each character comes with a playlist and speakers. If the party is having a DJ, the actor will coordinate the music with the DJ and get him the playlist.

9. Character entrance and warmup: The character will enter to his or her theme song and will start the party with dancing games that may include the limbo, cha-cha slide, musical chairs, or freeze dance. 

This will help loosen up the kids, especially those who may be shy around the character at first.

10. More fun activities: Depending on the package your client has chosen, balloon animals, face painting, magic shows, and photos with the character are next. 

This gives the children a great opportunity to have more fun while interacting with one of their favorite characters.

11. Singing: Finally, the character will sing happy birthday with the party guests and the show will come to a happy end.

Hopefully, this quick look at what exactly we do here at KidsPartyCharacters.com has shown you what a fun, profitable, and rewarding experience it can be to own your own children’s entertainment business.

For more details, set up a no-pressure chat with owner Cheryl Jacobs right here on our website. Cheryl can answer all your questions and help you figure out whether a KidsPartyCharacters.com membership is a good fit for your life.

You can also hear Cheryl talk about the business on the Kids Party Character podcast by subscribing here on iTunes, (or here on Podible for non-Mac users).

Join us on Facebook for more stories and pictures about the magic you can bring to a child’s party with a KidsPartyCharacters.com business. 

Why a Work From Home Business May Not Work For You

Having your own work from home business is really glamorized by those who successfully do it. Photos of big houses, fancy cars, and exotic vacations accompany stories claiming, “I only work 2 hours a day and can do my work from anywhere in the world.”

The laptop lifestyle is real, no doubt about it. The rewards your work from home business can reap are life-changing for you and your family.

But, and here’s a very big but, getting there isn’t easy. It’s one of those things that is fairly simple, but by no means easy.

Let’s be realistic. If just anyone could fire up their computer one day and have it churning out money the next with a couple hours work, and do this consistently, then everyone would be doing it. 

The stories you hear and see from successful home based business owners are without a doubt the highlight reel of their lives. 

While these stories are definitely worth being told, they leave out a few things you need to know if you’re thinking about starting your own work from home business.

So, before you jump into your new venture with both feet, let’s make sure you’re not setting yourself up for failure. There are three things you’ll need to have to get started.

1. A Burning Desire: You’re going to have to really want this. One of the biggest reasons people fail is they go in thinking, “Oh, I think I’ll try XYZ business and see if it works.”

Guess what? Provided that you’re going into a reputable business, it will work if you do.

But in the beginning at least, you’re not going to be able to treat your business like a weekend hobby.

You must go into your business with a burning desire to make it work. A commitment to doing the work that will lay the foundation of something that will be life-changing for you, your family, and the clients your business serves.

This is not to say you have to eat, sleep, and breathe your business 24/7. It has nothing to do with the time you put into your business. It’s about the commitment to putting in the time and effort needed. And whether that’s 2 hours a day or 8, is irrelevant.

The first thing you should ask yourself about your new business venture is, “How bad do I want this?” If in response, you feel a burning desire to make it happen, you’re good to go.

2. Thick Skin: Your new business is going to come with its ups and downs. Preparing yourself for this will make it easier to weather the downtimes.

One of the first things you’ll likely have to deal with is the doubters. Friends, family, acquaintances who will say things like, “Why would you want to do that?” Or, “My friend’s brother’s girlfriend tried that and lost $10,000.”

You must ignore these people. Realize that their doubts are a self-refection of what they believe their abilities to be, and have not a thing to do with you.

Some will question how you’ll take care of your children and may even suggest you’re a less than perfect mom for letting this venture distract you from your mom duties. 

Don’t engage these people. You can’t win. You’re doing this for your family, so that you can provide better for them. And yes, you may be giving up a little in the beginning, but the gain will be more than worth it as your business grows.

The best way to thicken your skin around any criticism is to hang out with like-minded people. As you start your business you’ll begin to meet people who “get it” just like you do. These are the people you’ll talk about your business with and spend your time around.

You’ll also need to have thick skin to endure failure along the way. Your ads won’t always work, a customer will cancel, another will complain. 

There will be times that it feels too hard and you’ll wonder if you should just quit before you completely fail and prove all those doubters right.

Hang on through these times. The perceived failures are just lessons in how to do things right. Keep going. And again, turn to that support network you’re building of others who are navigating the same storms.

3. Discipline: This one can be tough, but fortunately it’s one that you have a little room to practice and get better at. You’re going to have to make yourself consistently find time for your business.

If you go into it thinking you’ll work on your business when you have time, you’ll never work on your business. Think about how much extra time you currently have in your day. I’m betting it’s not a lot.

The good news is, that’s okay. You don’t even need more time in your day. You simply need more discipline.

Which means you need to schedule your work hours and stick to your schedule. You may feel like it’s okay to stop for a minute and switch out the laundry, but not while you’re working on your business it’s not. Do it before you put yourself on the clock, or after. No exceptions.

A great number of people who intend to start a home based business never even get far enough to fail at it. They simply just never get it off the ground because they didn’t have the discipline to put a little work into it each day.

And the Good News Is . . .

The intent here is not to fill you full of doom and gloom, but merely to give you a little dose of reality. 

If you go into your business prepared to conquer some of these early hurdles that cause many people to fall down and never get back up, the road to success in your business will be much easier. 

Of course, if you’ve read this far and are thinking, “This just isn’t for me,” then you’ve saved yourself a lot of time and trouble. Undoubtedly, owning a home based business isn’t for everyone. Especially when you have the additional responsibility of raising children.

But if you’ve read this far and think you have what it takes, the good news is KidsPartyCharacters.com has an opportunity that takes much of the hard work out of starting your own business.

KidsPartyCharacters.com owner Cheryl Jacobs has been through all the ups and downs of a business startup, which is why she’s decided to do what she can to make things easier for you.

Cheryl is offering a limited number of licenses that allow you to have your own KidsPartyCharacters.com business. With a license, or membership, you’ll have access to all of the 200+ Kids Party Characters costumes, an exclusive territory in which you can book parties, and access to our casting director and acting coach.

On top of that, you’ll get business training from Cheryl, and ongoing support from her and the entire team at KidsPartyCharacters.com. You’ll find this support crucial during those moments when your skin doesn’t feel so thick or your discipline is waning. 

Want to learn more about this opportunity? Book a friendly, no-pressure chat with Cheryl on our website and she’ll help you decide whether this is the right business for you.

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook too, where you’ll see many examples of how rewarding your KidsPartyCharacters.com business can be.