by Lianne Castelino www.whereparentstalk.com

I had the pleasure of attending the 12 Annual Babytime Show at the International Centre in Toronto over the weekend. Crazy weekend family schedules being what they are, I spent just over an hour at the Show.

Wow - what an incredibly busy place! Strollers, pregnant bellies, toddlers, new products, massive signs, huge displays, tons of music, food, and the perhaps the main reason for the show, outside of stellar organization ---- passionate entrepreneurs.

There are moms, dads, and non-parent types all over the place whose creative juices or just plain need have led to incredibly innovative, practical, fun and educational or both - "I wish I had thought of that" products. Kudos to them! Hope they have tons and tons of success!

If there is one thing you can be sure of, speaking from more than seven years of experience, being an entrepreneur is an absolute labour of love and IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. You learn a lot about yourself, your limits, your motivation and desire. You learn tons about humanity, how to deal with rejection and frustration. You learn how to persevere when you hear the words, "No thanks," more times than the word "Yes, that sounds great, let's draw up a contract and move it forward." You learn new ways to open doors when they are constantly closed in your face. You learn how to celebrate the small victories, and lay the foundation for the larger wins that may or may never come.

In short, being an entrepreneur is a marathon and not a sprint.

If you survive all the tests, then you will also learn that being an entrepreneur is exhilarating, rewarding, motivating. It is for the independent spirit, the dreamer, the optimist, the forward-thinker and the learning addict. It is for the creative at heart and the pragmatic, after all necessity is the mother of invention, they say! Being an entrepreneur is for those who may want to create a different schedule, be the masters of their own domain, enjoy a consistent adrenaline rush, and look at the world slightly differently than many others.

The emotional roller coaster of entrepreneurism is riveting, exhausting and absolutely worth it! Hard work always pays off - so the saying goes. No where is that more evident than deciding to go into business for yourself.

Our own labour or love, Where Parents Talk.com, a Division of Liandrea Productions Inc., has been all of the above and more. I have learned so much, come out of myself, pushed my personal boundaries, learned tons of about myself, my family, life and who my friends are.

For those new small business owners just starting out - welcome to the club, savour even good and bad moment. It is a process and for the most part there are no shortcuts. A no in the morning could turn into a yes at lunch - that's the way it goes! For those who are veterans of the entrepreneurial world - congratulations!

If you are a rookie or a grizzled veteran entrepreneur - KEEP GOING. Fear regret more than failure. Push the envelope. Celebrate all the victories - big and small. Delegrate. Negotiate. Pace yourself. It is JUST SO WORTH IT in the end!

ARTICLE LINKS - Check out a Q and A with Andrea and I featured in the magazine: MomProneurs 

For more information on thet baby and toddler show visit: www.babytimeshows.ca 

by Andrea Howick                   www.whereparentstalk.com

The other morning, I had loaded all the kids into the car for school. It must have been around 8:00 am. My husband had forgotten something in the car, so I rolled down the window and he poked his head in. "Whoa! It smells like the beach in here! You guys all on vacation?" No, dear, we're not on vacation - but that's a topic for anther day.

The reason for his reaction was the overpowering smell of sunscreen in the car. I had slathered all the kids before heading off to school. I think like many moms today, I am completely sun-phobic. Don't get me wrong - it doesn't stop us from doing anything. On the contrary, we are out from dawn till dusk on nice spring weekends and summer days. All the more reason for the layers and layers of sun protection, hats and those SPF 50 t-shirts my kids wear.

The Canadian Dermatology Association's website has a ton of information about protecting kids. Consider this:
"Much of our lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 18, so protecting your children from the sun will go a long way in helping prevent skin cancer later on in their lives. While the majority of adults are working indoors in the summer, children and teens are often exposed to the sun for extended periods. "

And here's the category my kids fall into:
"
Some children face a higher risk than others. Children with fair skin, who usually burn and do not easily tan when out in the sun, have a higher risk of developing skin cancer later in life. Kids with blond or red hair, freckles or many moles, also fall into this high risk group. Parents should pay special attention to sun protection for these children."

I mean one look at that white skin and strawberry blonde hair, and it's all I can do not to re-apply every 30 minutes! The website goes on to remind parents that even cloudy days can be dangerous as the sun's rays can penetrate most cloud cover. It also reminds us that even school recess is an opportunity for harmful rays to penetrate.

I admit that all this worrying about the sun's harmful rays can put a serious dent in a girl's wallet. I am sure there are plenty of good drugstore brands, but I am hooked on a natural product called Keys

It is not cheap, but I love the way it goes on and the fact that it's all natural and chemical-free. And I get it from a fantastic natural products website called Hornet Mountain. www.hornetmountain.com

Let's face it - there is always something to worry about! This makes me feel like I've got SPF 30+ between them and the big bad world.

By Lianne Castelino www.whereparentstalk.com

I always wonder why we do this to ourselves.  Why, as a society, we don't seem to be learning.  

The Active Healthy Kids Report about the lack of physical activity by young children is appalling and worrisome.   So too are the health statistics - heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions that will take hundreds of thousands of victims - all because of a lack of exercise, and unhealthy eating.

When we don't hang our heads in shame over this yearly report, we air our dirty laundry as a nation once every four years at the Olympics.  Why don't we produce more high-calibre athletes goes the common refrain?  Well here are some answers to that question. 

Perhaps we could start by opening some of the school gymnasiums after-school or on weekends to accommodate organized sporting events. Why do we build these big schools with monster gyms and then not use them to their fullest?  How about putting basketball nets back up in the parks, unlocking the tennis court gates for the public to use, lifting some of the stifling rules around public sporting venues where kids used to run and play free. These are public areas that have over the years become desolate because there are too many rules, too much administration to overcome and too much fear that letting children play outside will result in something bad happening.

As a society we have found ways to lock-down playgrounds and extract all the fun from free play.  We have transformed natural exercise arenas like outdoor courts or grassy fields into lonely, bare shells frequented by dogwalkers more than children.  

While we're at it, can we create a meaningful physical education component for the school curriculum?  Does it really have to be dodge ball or red rover until high school?  Hiring staff that can teach and guide children in the fundamentals of different sports as part of gym class will pay dividends on an ongoing basis.  

Exercise does not have to about one's ability to pay to participate.  Nor does it have to be a costly, complicated venture requiring beauracracy. It is, after all, about staying fit and having fun with a helping of spontaneity.  Do we really need to teach children those most basic of skills....shouldn't they come naturally?

Let's loosen some of the rules just a bit to make participation a right not a privilege.

Physical inactivity at a young age will affect all of us - young and old.  It's time we took responsibility for our part in this chain.

Here is the press release for the 2010 report card on physical activity: http://www.whereparentstalk.com/articles/young-children/inactive-kids-un...