Babies & Toddlers: We Love the Littlest!

Today, Peter and I had a really fun opportunity to bring A Sweet Event to the Baby & Toddler Expo at the Miller Hill Mall in Duluth. Through various events, marketing, and partnerships, we've grown to love working with the mall's team.

The mall's not only been fantastic to us as business owners, but the good Lord knows we spend enough time there as a family. Especially during the long Minnesota winters. You can definitely often find us at Barnes & Noble at the train table or Lego table among other places. We also have some vending accounts there.

Needless to say we were very excited to participate in their Baby & Toddler Expo, which is designed specifically to provide information, products, and services to parents of the littlest of the littles. We are just getting out of the baby & toddler life with Clara, and Logan is definitely in toddler stage, maybe even in baby stage depending on the level of denial I'm experiencing on that particular day.

So we really resonate and identify with parents of the littlest. We are still in the throes of diapers, sippy cups, midday naps, car seat safety, and sticky hands. We know life can go from pure joy to pure irritation in a blink of an eye. We know as parents of the littlest that your kids will never need you more than they need you at the baby and toddler stage, and we are soaking it all in. What else are you going to do? Sleep? (Cue hearty laugh from other littlest parents.)

Our candy buffet service is the chief service we are most excited to bring to these parents. One mom said it best to us at our table today, "So, I can just hire you guys, and you make it look like I spent hours on Pinterest for my kid's birthday party?" Yeah. That's exactly the idea.

Because really, if you have a baby or a toddler, who has time for that? It's a miracle to get a shower or cook a meal at home. Don't let Pinterest make you feel inadequate as a party planner for your kid again. We reject you, Pinterest! (I'm just kidding. Look at you, Pinterest, with all your tasty recipes and vintage farmhouse decor ideas, I can't stay mad at you.)

But really, as parents who are half in, half out of this stage, we get it. We know you want to throw your child an amazing birthday party that pictures will tell of your love and devotion for years to come, but you can't even remember what year it is when you write a check. Our themed candy buffets aim to take all of the work out of it for you. We do all the Pinterest-worthy work for your party, and maybe that leaves you with enough time to actually sit down and eat a meal. Maybe.

Thanks to Pretty Princess Parties for making our candy buffets EXTRA Pinterest worthy!

We loved the chance to meet many of you at the Expo today! The cupcake vending machine was another big hit of the day.

If you didn't get a chance to stop by and say hi, here's a few pictures of our booth. As usual, Peter and I had a great day working side by side, and my mom and dad were great enough to take the kiddos for us today so we could both be there.

Next month, we are also going to be meeting with our good friends at Pretty Princess Parties and Diamond MC Entertainment to start work on a new event for the area we know you will love. Make sure to keep up with us on the blog, on A Sweet Event Facebook, and with the Pretty Princesses for lots of forthcoming details!

Business, Money, and Cute Kids

Northland Vending is a business that doesn't really know a life separate from kids. I was 7 months pregnant with our first when we started up. So both of them, 4 years and 21 months, have been in the mix in some way or another from day one.

Most of our customers and business partners know our kids really well. They have gotten to do a lot of things, meet a lot of people, and see a lot of places they normally wouldn't have if we didn't own this business, which is pretty cool.

Separate from the obvious kid lottery jackpot of being surrounded by candy all the time or getting to score the goodies for Business Members only at Sam's Club, we're also being diligent about teaching them about how to run a business and steward their money wisely. Maybe they won't have any interest in running their own businesses one day, but the basic principles of running a good business and spending your money wisely hold true no matter what you decide to do with your life.

One thing I've liked so far about homeschooling Clara, is that I can customize her curriculum however I choose. Now, before you go thinking I'm one of those moms that adheres to the practice of "unschooling" by letting her ride roller coasters to learn physics, I assure you, she is receiving a formally accredited education with materials from people who know what they're doing (Ie; NOT me). However, I get to intertwine principles and basics that I deem important- such as: business, money, bible, and compassion just to name a few.

So how does Clara earn money? Well, she helps out around the house. After all, she lives here too. For small jobs, we don't pay her- it's all for the sheer dynamic joy of being apart of this absolutely amazing family (stop laughing). For larger jobs, we do pay her. Going out and helping Peter with the vending route is considered a larger job. The money goes in her piggy bank. She saves it for as long as she wants. Sometimes that's been a couple of weeks, sometimes a matter of hours (thank you, ice cream truck).

Now, if I ask her to do something around the house and she does not do it, the answer is simple. She pays me to do it. (That may sound harsh at the onset, but what do you do when you have a job around the house you don't want to do? That's right. Advantage, plumber). It's my market. I charge what I want. It's usually in line with how much extra change I need to park downtown at the YMCA that day. She's getting better and better about not letting it get to that point, but it sure beats yelling and 50 exasperated reminders. She gets one reminder. If she doesn't do it, those George Washingtons are all mine.

Side note: you may think that sounds like the Love & Logic style of parenting, you're absolutely right. I TOTALLY subscribe to their theories of parenting, they work like magic, and if they had tambourines I could bang and carnations I could hand out, I'd be all over it.

If Clara wants something and she doesn't have the money, she doesn't get it- novel, right? But let me tell you, it totally cuts down on the Target-tantrums. Now, the conversation goes something like this:

Clara: "I want this princess/Barbie/dress/Lego set/doll/puzzle/anything-on-the-entire-shelf"
Me: "Sweet! How are you going to pay for that?"
Clara: "Save my money....."

And we walk away, and I think about what an awesome kid she is before she carelessly spills her high-fructose corn syrup fruit snacks all over the floor. Sorry Target.

That's it. You may think your kids are too young to learn about money, but kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. You give them a few basic principles even most adults no longer subscribe to, and they can figure it out.

As our first "employees", our kids have learned a lot already about managing money, manners, honesty, and going a good job. Anyone can teach these qualities to their kids of course, that's why I give the examples, but we are just blessed with a good platform that gives us lots of practical application. As they're getting older, I'm trying to implement other good money lessons like giving your money away and praying about important financial decisions, just to name a few.

All that to say, today Logan joined in on the work of the day and earned his first $2. He doesn't yet have a piggy bank, so he's banking at the Cooperative Pig of Clara, but it was a pretty exciting day for all involved.