As a mother I want my child to be happy, ambitious and have a willingness to succeed but at the same time I do not want to be pushy and want her to enjoy her childhood. Over the past few months I have been fascinated with the book, enterprising Child by Lorraine Allman with Mary Cummings. It’s an inspiring book giving you ideas on developing your child’s entrepreneurial potential, but at the same time it is an inspiring book for adults too. Making you think about tasks, work and ambitions in a different way.
The opening line, ‘We live in turbulent times of change and financial upheaval. Adults rarely nowadays have just one occupation, job or singe career.’ said by Sue Atkins, Parent Coach. Don’t I know it, nowadays it is very rare for people to have just one job, people have businesses, blogs and or hobbies that bring in extra income as well as juggling a full-time job and of course parenthood.
The enterprising Child is full of great ideas on how to teach children about handling money, saving and spending from a young age. Simple processes like actually handling cash rather than just using debit and credit cards all the time gives them a sense of the value of money. Talking through ideas and whether to spend or save their birthday money and also bringing in the idea of raising money for charity. These are all entrepreneurial traits and a lot of which we probably already do with our children without realising it.
As the book is written by parents for parents, the writers are familiar with everyday situations and traumas parents have to face. They give ideas on how to turn certain situations into an opportunity to get children to think about solutions and distract them from the issue. For example, rather than moaning about queuing or traffic (which can be frustrating for the parent and child) perhaps talk to your child about what the hold up could be and their ideas on how to make the queue move faster. It is always amazing to hear their thought process and how they think these everyday situations occur.
There are quite a few exercises and activities from this book I have used and tried out with my four-year old like letting her completely plan our family Boxing Day from deciding the menu to sorting out games and even the dress code. I was amazed with her ideas and her ability to plan and make lists (she sees me making to-do lists all the time!) I now take the time to explain to her what I am doing with my work and why, trying to get her involved with little tasks like taking pictures for the blog. Even if I am not going to use them she is already thinking about styling images and lighting so when I am sitting and editing photos she is interested and briefly understands my blogging process rather than thinking it is just another thing that takes mummy’s attention away from her.
I think this is a great resource book for parents, it inspires you to be the entrepreneur you want to be but also gives you ideas on how to inspire your children too. Whatever they enjoy, crafts, baking, performing, writing or gardening, there are entrepreneurial opportunities in all hobbies. How do you inspire your children? Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have read this book what do you think? Please be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter for instant updates that go beyond the blog. Also be sure to subscribe to the blog here, so you are the first to know about new posts ♥
