Hopscotch Boutique, baby boutique, unique & trendy children’s boutique, baby registry

Found this article in Parents Magazine: April 2008….and I thought I would pass along the info for you to do with your children

1. Celebrate a new holiday. Announce that it’s Polka-Dot Day or Purple Day.
2. Throw a doll’s birthday party. Wrap up a few “gifts”, decorate with balloons and streamers, and enjoy a mock - or real- cake.
3. Dress for the weather. Lay out items for different weather condititions, describe a certain day, and ask your child to pick an outfit for it.
4. Open a petting zoo. Place stuffed animals around the room, pet each one, and talk about what they like to eat.
5. Camp out in your living room. Climb into a tent and sleeping bags, Turn on a flashlight, and pretend to eat s’mores.
6. Form a family band. Have everyone grab an instrument and jam to a cd.
7. Imitate animals. Practive hopping like a frog, squirming like a worm, wadding like a duck, and stretching like a cat.
8. Play restaurant. In the real kitchen or a pretend one, alternate between being the customer and the server or chef.
9. Offer horsy rides. Let her bounce on your back while you “neigh” and chew hay.
10. Ride the laundy-bin “school bus”. She’s the passenger, and you’re the driver. Make stops to pick up other kids, and wave bye-bye to the mommies at each stop.

Surrendering to motherhood means surrendering to interruption.
Erica Jong

1.You will want to burn your maternity clothes - even if you plan on having more kids.
2.You will pretend you don’t smell your child’s dirty diaper as you hand her to Dad.
3.You will be able to shower, wash and dry your hair, and get dressed in less than ten minutes.
4.You will fantasize about what you would swap for a good eight hours of sleep.
5.You will be so proud of every ounce your baby gains.
6.You will wonder whether it’s possible to get all the crud out of your baby’s skin folds.
7.You will laugh at your OB when she asks what you plan on using for birth control at your six-week postpartum checkup.
8.You will want to throw the baby monitor out the window.
9.You won’t have the desire or the time to iron the crib skirt after you first wash it. And the wrinkles will drive you crazy. But not crazy enough to dismantle the crib and iron it…
10.You will dread encountering baby-crazed preschoolers with runny noses and coughs.

I found this article on Entrepeneur.com and loved it. I am lots of moms who ask me about opening a business….hope this inspires you!
“Real-life mompreneurs say the secret to success is simple: Tap into the skills you’ve already developed as a mom. Here are some examples.

Mom Skill #1: Coming Up With Creative Solutions. After you’ve come up with your own ways of handling everything from diapering to feeding time, put some of those ideas to use in business. Jen Groover, 33, is a mother of 2-year-old twins and CEO of Jen Groover Productions, a $1 million conglomerate brand of products, many of which aim to make a mom’s life easier. In a year and a half, she’s launched two TV shows, a book, websites, a blog and several product lines. The first version of her patented Butler Bags–a line of highly organized handbags, gym bags and diaper bags–quickly sold out before the first shipment even left China.

Before starting her Swarthmore, Pennsylvania-based company, Groover had a successful career in childhood education and as a fitness expert. But “after having my twins, I wanted to stay home with them and experience everything motherhood was about,” she says. Groover admits being a mompreneur isn’t always easy, which is why she started a business to help other moms like her. “It’s like being a full-time quarterback,” she says. “You never really get a break trying to productively lead your business and your family.”

Mom Skill #2: Never Taking No for An Answer. Once you’ve learned to deal with recalcitrant toddlers, it’s easy to persist in the face of stubborn buyers.

Laine Caspi, CEO of $1.2 million product licensing company Parents of Invention, brought a unique baby wrap from Israel back to the U.S. four years ago to use with her infant. When hordes of people stopped her to inquire where they could get one, Caspi, 37, saw the obvious opportunity. “I never would have started my own business if I hadn’t been a mom,” she says.

Now, after licensing several parenting products from other mompreneurs, she attributes her success to “never, ever taking no for an answer.” Good advice for dealing with target customers, and perhaps her two children, ages 4 and 8.

Mom Skill #3: Scheduling and Prioritizing. “Moms have critical entrepreneurial skills such as patience, stamina and persistence,” says Tamara Monosoff, author of The Mom Inventors Handbook. “They know how to prioritize and are master schedulers.”

Monosoff should know. She regularly races from QVC to Good Morning America, making cross-country day trips so she can be back home for her children, who are 2 and 4 years old. After a successful political career working in the Clinton administration, Monosoff, 41, became a stay-at-home mom. Frustrated by her daughter’s delight in continually unraveling the bathroom toilet paper, Monosoff invented the TP Saver. The product did well and has inspired many other budding mompreneurs to seek her advice. Now her books, consulting and product licensing efforts are all designed around helping other mompreneurs succeed. She advises mompreneurs to learn about the processes involved in starting their venture before spending a lot of money.

A while ago Hopscotch presented Renee Trudeau, a motivational and inpirational speaker at the local YMCA. She spoke about how important self-care is for moms….and how we always seem to put ourselves second to our child(ren), husband, washing, dishes yada yada yada.

This is a great quote: “Self-care is not about self-indulgence. It’s about self-preservation.” –Audre Lorde

I receive Renee’s monthly e-mails…and this one really struck home…so I thought I would pass it along to you….
. The knowingness of how important it is to feel my feelings and not run from them. When I take time to fully experience what I’m feeling in the moment–particularly if the feelings are uncomfortable–I’m able to let them move through me and not take me hostage.

· The awareness of the speed at which I am living and working. Knowing when it’s time to speed up (rare!) and when it’s time to slow down (often!) and listening to my body’s natural rhythms, helps me be more effective and efficient, particularly at work.

· Realizing that rest and relaxation are integral to my physical and emotional well-being. It’s not about slacking, it’s about being gentle with yourself (would you ever push your exhausted child to keep going?!).

· Being conscious about who I surround myself with (professionally and personally), how relationships affect me and how I feel after spending time with friends, clients and family members. As we change, so do our relationships.

· Becoming vigilant about how I use my time: getting comfortable saying “no,” and thoughtfully planning my days/weekends so that they fuel me and don’t drain me. (Read the chapter on Managing Your Energy and Saying No from the Guide.)

· Knowing that when I feel overwhelmed, I can hit the pause button and step back to re-assess and change course–at any time! (If you know you need to re-consider your career course, join us on May 3rd or May 29th for the Finding Your Career Mojo Workshop.)

· Being compassionate with myself, knowing when “good is good enough” and letting things go, rather then ruminating about how a conversation, presentation or encounter might have been done differently.

· Permission to take time to ask “what do I really need?” Maybe it’s support or mentoring, maybe it’s downtime, maybe it’s faith and trusting in Divine timing or maybe it’s going for a walk around the lake or canceling a social outing so I can spend time alone journaling.

· The reminder to breathe and embrace the present moment–where the greatest levels of peace and well-being reside, always.

For more information on Renee and to learn more about her book, click http://www.reneetrudeau.com

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up puke laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, ‘It’s okay honey, Mommy’s here’.

Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can’t be comforted. This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON’T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they’ll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.

And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football , hockey or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars, so that when their kids asked, ‘Did you see me, Mom?’ they could say, ‘Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,’ and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand) mothers who wanted to, but just couldn’t find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read ‘Goodnight, Moon’ twice a night for a year. And then read it again. ‘Just one more time.’

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls ‘Mom?’ in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home — or even away at college.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they’d be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can’t find the words to reach them.

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting.

For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good Mother anyway?

Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?

Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that t takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when you just want to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home?

Or the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation…

And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us