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EPnews -- from The Entrepreneurial Parent
a work-family resource for home-based entrepreneurs
@ http://www.en-parent.com
December 13, 2000
Lisa Roberts, Editor:
epideas@en-parent.com
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
_______________CONTENTS_______________
- ... The Funny Things EP Kids
Say & Do
- ... EP Times -- "Year-end
Reverie"
- ... Help Wanted: ABC-Host.com
looking for teleworkers
- ... What's Happening at EP --
NAEP Membership Drive
- ... Home Office Computing Interview
Requests
- ... EP Survey Prize Winners
-- Cheryl Nicholas & Colleen Paddock
- ... Reader Feedback
_________________________________________
Editorial Note: EPnews is distributed
the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every
month, except during the summer. The Entrepreneurial Parent web
site
(en-parent.com) is a
hub of community and career resources for
Entrepreneurial Parents -- come visit often. Welcome all new
subscribers!
==============================================================================
===========================================
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H O L I D A Y G I F T R E C O M M E N D A T I O N
The Practical Dreamer's Handbook
by Paul & Sarah Edwards (September, 2000)
Ever wonder how some people can
make their dreams come true while others live
all their life long with just a pipe dream? In this eloquently-written
book,
Sarah and Paul Edwards encourage their readers to "get practical"
and make
their dreams come true, whatever they may be. This book is a
jewel, and
clearly written from the heart. Buy it for someone you love --
especially if
they're in the holiday/end-of-year blues or in a crossroads in
life...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585420557/theentrepreneuri
H O L I D A Y G I F T R E C O
M M E N D A T I O N
==============================================================================
===========================================
___________________________________
THE FUNNY THINGS EP KIDS SAY & DO!
Submitted by EPnews Subscriber,
Marybeth, Executive Director of WAHMfest
(mailto:wahmfest@juno.com):
Last Christmas, my then 6-month
old was lying on the floor playing. My
daughter, Meghan, picked up Robby's burp rag, draped it over
his head and
said, "Look, Mom! He's a shepherd!"
=================
Why work at home? So you can hear the funny things your EP Kids
say
throughout the day. Share with the EP Community something your
child said or
did recently that made you smirk, giggle, or LOL. Send your submission
via
e-mail to:epideas@en-parent.com.
And if you need a stockpile of smiles to get
you through your EP day, check out Grace Housholder's heartwarming
"The Funny
Kids Project" at www.funnykids.com.
On those stressed-out EP days, you'll be
glad you did!
Grace's coffee table book is
also available at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963871536/theentrepreneuri
_________________________________
EP TIMES -- AN EDITORIAL
"Year-End Reverie"
© 2000, Lisa M. Roberts
In the five weeks since Election
Night -- as much of America and the world
have been pinned almost nightly to the news, learning more about
our legal
system than anyone ever wanted to know and uniting the country
at least in
the suspension of national attention -- our personal lives naturally
went on.
In my world, a close uncle passed away. A big client of mine
has been thrust
into a major company reorg which will affect my bottom line next
year. My
youngest two children both battled their first winter-related
asthma bout.
And Mister Rogers taped his last show after 30 years, bringing
tears to my
eyes (and Katie Couric's!) on the Today Show just this morning
as he played
his signature tune, "...and you'll have things you'll want
to talk about! I
-- will -- too..."
World events....Family crisis...Career
planning...Illness...Bittersweet
good-byes....all in the midst of the holiday season. This time
last year the
optimists and pessimists among us polarized between the millennium
once-in-a-lifetime celebration and the villainous Y2K bug. Next
year we'll
slug through another set of global and personal dramas, no doubt.
All of
which makes me long for a simpler time, a simpler world -- the
world, of
course, that our children live in right now.
Any Harry Nilsson fans out there?
This time of year his song "Remember" runs
over and over in my mind ("Remember...is a place of long
ago.
Remember....filled with everything we know. Remember...when you're
sad and
feeling down. Remember...turn around.") As I prepare for
the first Christmas
Eve in my mother's house without my father, and now without my
uncle as well,
I found myself digging up a very old essay I wrote when I was
a teenager to
share with you. I admit I'm a little nervous sending it out there,
since it's
an intimate snapshot of where I was at 17 (cynical like every
other teenager,
yes!), but it is that very place filled with everything I know,
and it is a
place that we all as parents are creating for our children each
year whether
we realize it or not. Unfortunately, chances are we all DO realize
it -- and
that is the very reason as adults we oscillate between the joy
of remembrance
and the intense pressure to perform...to deliver...for the next
generation.
So my year-end, holiday wish
to all Entrepreneurial Parents is that, in this
busy time of closing out our records for the year, scrambling
to accomplish
our must-have-done business goals for the Year 2000, and serving
clients and
customers in their seasonal rush of needs, you will take a moment
to sit back
and remember YOUR "place of long ago."
To further quote Nilsson (which
is what I must have been doing at the end of
the following essay written back in 1978!):
"Dream....life is only in
a dream. Remember. Remember...life is never as it
seems....Dream...."
Sweet year-long dreams to all
EPs...and to all their children.
=========
Cast of Characters:
--> Snowball -- a lovable black Labrador-mutt with a white
patch of fur on
her chest
--> My uncle -- an avid King Kong fan who must have opened
up every King Kong
nic-nac ever made at Christmas time -- mostly as a gag gift from
me (strange
that "King King" would visit my son Thomas in a dream
on Election Night --
just days before my uncle died)
--> My brother -- a lawyer by trade but always a musician
at heart
--> The author -- a H.S. student whose two older siblings
were away at
college & law school
"The Holiday Cycle"
(c) 1978, by Lisa Calderone
The holidays are almost here
again. Soon the house will be captive to a
mixture of sweet aromas, forced laughter, natural warmth, and
worn-out
memories. But for the moment, all is still. Sheltered from the
outside cold,
the room is frozen in Christmas silence. The only warmth is generated
from
the tracings of human preparation: strings of colored Christmas
cards drip
like tinsel along the border of the door; miniature Santa dolls
caught
forever in a foolish chuckle are scattered about the room; a
single log in
the fireplace awaits its hour of glory. And in the corner stands
the
omnipotent Tree. The captured touch of nature is colored with
human kindness:
each dyed ball and glittered decoration holds a smile within.
Only the
angel-star on top, guardian and almighty, and the religious nativity
below,
humble and still, hold together the Christmas Spirit in its entirety.
For a
moment, the room is peaceful, uninterrupted by the presence of
man. When he
comes, the angel-star will watch with amusement.
Soon, my brother and sister will
make their happy appearance, and we'll all
have oh so much to talk about. On the afternoon of Christmas
Eve my cousin
will hold his forefinger to the tired doorbell until my dog cries
out to
alleviate the obnoxious ringing in his ear, signifying the arrival
of my wild
and crazy relatives. They'll enter the house: my uncle, the son,
my aunt, her
daughter, with hundreds of gifts, and double that of jokes, riddles,
and
exaggerated adventures. I'll exchange my own at dinnertime, while
my brother
and sister recite legal gibberish. After a taste of the nine
different fish,
my cousins will run to the living room and pretend to watch T.V.,
while
sitting by the Tree, almost on top of the presents. I'll follow
them shortly
after, and watch Lorraine, shaking my head and thinking, "She
is 19 and still
rattling the presents to guess what's inside." Then I'll
spot one of my own
and do the same.
When all the conversation and
jokes are exhausted, the wrapping papers thrown
in the fire, the presents tried on, and the dishes clean, they
will leave.
Tomorrow Snowball and the doorbell will warn us that they have
come back.
Tomorrow the children -- my uncle included -- will sit through
every episode
of the ape stories, from the original King Kong to Mighty Joe
Young,
predicting out loud our own associated jokes. Crackling the never-ending
nuts
inside will be my parents and my aunt, discussing their ungrateful
children
with the utmost pride in their voices. Tomorrow, we will again
enjoy each
other's company, passing the holiday hours together.
But this night my immediate family
will sit together: Snowball and I by the
fire, my mother sandwiched between her intelligent children,
my father
relaxing in his easy chair and cigar. Dutifully, silently, my
brother will
rise and sit at the piano. At first he will play popular, bouncy
tunes that I
would tap dance to a long time ago. Presently, he will move farther
back into
my childhood -- not in time, but in deep-rooted, steady memories:
a piece he
would practice every morning, as I lie half-asleep, in comfortable
annoyance;
or the fragment of a composition he had worked so hard on, and
took such
pride in conquering. His fingers will dance so magnificently
upon the notes
of ivory, until that familiar feeling of oneness enters the room.
The clean,
strong, confident sounds will be softened by the gentle rain
of pinkies in
staccato. It will be as if he were suddenly suspended in a mist
of music,
eternally resting upon the sprinkling of sounds. My brother will
be at peace
-- in tune to the vibrations of life, of his life, of our life,
for a
suspended moment.
I will watch his poised fingers
instinctively prance about the black and
white keys until the tears obscure my vision. For a precious
hour we are
quiet and together and real. Then we go to sleep and dream until
we wake up
the following year, when we can be real -- and together -- again.
=================
What are *your* holiday recollections? Let's hear it. Email
"editor@en-parent.com"
and we may share your thoughts and experiences in our
next EPnews issue.
=================
Lisa Roberts is the mother of four, Site Producer of The Entrepreneurial
Parent and author of "How to Raise A Family & A Career
Under One Roof: A
Parent's Guide to Home Business" (Bookhaven Press, 1997).
"EP Times" is a
continuation of the "Home Business Diary" essays originally
created for her
book, which is available for purchase at:
http://en-parent.com/order.htm
and through Amazon, at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0943641179/theentrepreneuri
____________________________________
HELP WANTED!
ABC-Host.com is currently looking
for a customer service representative,
programmer, web designer, and Internet marketing specialist.
These are
telecommuting jobs; no relocation is required. They would welcome
applicants
from all over the world!
Please find more details at:
http://www.abc-host.com/jobs.html
Contact person: Linda Rich ("jobs@abc-host.com")
Good luck!
__________________________
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT EP
---> NAEP Membership Drive
Good news for all current NAEP
members and all EPnews Subscribers who've been
wanting to join but haven't made the leap yet. Our NAEP Local
Chapter
Guidelines are now ready for distribution, and all promised membership
benefits will be ready to roll in 2001 -- including a printed
EP Membership
Directory, a NAEP members-only quarterly newsletter (electronic
version
only), and EP T's and mousepads.
We hope starting a local support
group of EPs in your neighborhood will be on
the very top of your New Year's Resolutions! If you're weary
from the
work-at-home isolation blues, find others singing the same tune
and change
it! To kick off our "2001 NAEP Membership Drive," all
EPnews Subscribers are
eligible for a one-year discounted membership IF you join before
year-end.
Here's the details:
NAEP Membership Benefits:
---> Internet advertising
opportunities such as a booth at the "EP Gift Shop"
and Member Profile page at the "EP Showcase"
---> NAEP Chapter Guidelines to start your own local support
group of EPs
---> EP Annual Membership Directory
---> NAEP Newsletter - a quarterly electronic publication
filled with member
news
---> Choice of: A Parent's Guide to Home Business, EP Mousepad
or EP T-Shirt
---> NAEP credentials (Membership Card & Certificate of
Membership)
DISCOUNT: NAEP Member Discount
for EPnews Subscribers ONLY:
---> Annual Dues: $45 at a
(roughly) 15% discount == $38
---> Member Application: https://ssl.ahnet.net/en-par/links2/cgi-bin/add2.cgi
or follow the link to NAEP off the en-parent.com home page
---> Eligibility for Discount: To receive the 15% discount,
identify yourself
as an EPnews Subscriber when responding to the question "What
else would you
like to see The Entrepreneurial Parent offer?" on the application.
---> Deadline for Applications: December 31, 2000
Ready to meet fellow EPs? Join
NAEP today!
https://ssl.ahnet.net/en-par/links2/cgi-bin/add2.cgi
_______________________________________________________
HOME OFFICE COMPUTING INTERVIEW/SURVEY REQUESTS
Are you a male telecommuter who
chose to work at home for PROFESSIONAL
reasons (rather than work-family balance), or have found that
working at home
has advanced your corporate career unexpectantly? If so, I'd
love to speak to
you! Or if you know of anyone who fits the bill, please refer
them to me.
Just write to "lisa@en-parent.com"
with the Subject Heading: "HOC
Telecommuter" and I'll be in touch asap. Thanks!
=========
Is your town or city home business/free agent -friendly? I'm
on assignment
with Home Office Computing magazine to find the "Top U.S.
Cities for Home
Business," a cover story to be published in the Spring,
2001.
Here's your chance to nominate
-- or not! -- your place of residence and help
us determine the criteria we'll use to rate America's cities.
Just fill out
the short questionnaire below (it will only take a few minutes!)
and weigh in
on the topic.
TOP U.S. CITIES FOR HOME BUSINESS
QUESTIONNAIRE
Please copy & paste the following
survey in a return email, with the Subject
Heading "Top U.S. Cities Survey," and send your answers
back to:
"lisa@en-parent.com"
For questions with more than one choice, please insert 3
X's (XXX) plus a space in front of the correct choice.
Name (optional):
City:
State:
1. How long have you owned your
own home business?
a. 0-1 year
b. 2-5 years
c. 6-10 years
d. 10+
2. How big is your home business?
a. I am the only employee
b. 2 employees
c. 3-5 employees
d. 5+ employees
3. Rate the degree of difficulty
of your start-up experience:
a. much easier than I expected
b. somewhat easier than I expected
c. what I expected
d. somewhat harder than I expected
e. much harder than I expected
4. What was the easiest part
about starting your business? (pick one)
a. working with the local government
b. working with financial institutions
c. zoning laws
d. tax laws
e. strong SCORE and/or SBDC support
f. strong association/support groups
g. local telecommunications infrastructure
h. local transportation infrastructure
i. Other (please clarify):
4a. Why?
5. What was the biggest obstacle
in starting your business (pick one)?
a. working with the local government
b. working with financial institutions
c. zoning laws
d. tax laws
e. lack of SCORE and/or SBDC support
f. lack of association/support groups
g. local telecommunications infrastructure
h. local transportation infrastructure
i. continuing education resources (colleges, universities, adult
ed,
libraries)
k. Other (please clarify):
5a. Why?
6. Please list 5-10 factors/aspects
that were instrumental in starting your
home business, and then rank the top 3 that were most important
to you.
7. What has been the easiest
part of running and growing your home business?
a. local cost of doing business
b. local client base
c. local corporations that frequently outsource
d. local access to small business resources
e. tax laws
f. strong association/support groups
g. proximity to a large city
h. continuing education resources (colleges, universities, adult
ed,
libraries)
i. strong cultural/recreational environment
j. Other (please specify):
7a. Why?
8. What has been the greatest
obstacle in running and growing your home
business?
a. local cost of doing business
b. local client base
c. local corporations that frequently outsource
d. local access to small business resources
e. tax laws
f. strong association/support groups
g. proximity to a large city
h. continuing education resources (colleges, universities, adult
ed,
libraries)
i. strong cultural/recreational environment
j. Other (please specify):
8a. Why?
9. Please list 5-10 factors/aspects
that have been instrumental in growing
your home business, and then rank the top 3 that have been most
important to
you.
10. Additional comments are welcome.
____________________________________
EP SURVEY PRIZE WINNERS
Congratulations to Cheryl Nicholas
and Colleen Paddock, who won our First and
Second Prize drawings, respectively, from the pool of respondents
to the
"National Survey of Entrepreneurial Parents." Of course
we also want to
extend our sincere thanks to the over 500 EPs who took the time
to
participate in our research! Your time and thoughts will help
create an
invaluable book for EPs.
Cheryl Nicholas of Tolland, CT,
an EP to 2 children (ages 11 years and 10
months), runs a service of architectural drafting for architects.
She has
over 20 years of experience and has just recently opted to work
at home.
Cheryl says, "My best asset in my endeavors is the partnership
with my
husband -- he's very supportive and understanding of the time
it takes to
develop my business." Her advice to fellow EPs? "I
find it necessary to
dedicate a specific time of day as well as office space in my
home for my
work. This helps to separate my duties as draftsman and home-mom."
Cheryl was randomly selected
to win FIRST PRIZE -- A Bundle of Books by Paul
& Sarah Edwards, including:
** Working from Home: Everything You Need to Know About Living
and Working
Under the Same Roof (1999)
** Making Money in Cyberspace (1998)
** Getting Business to Come to You: A Complete Do-It-Yourself
Guide to
Attracting All the Business You Can Enjoy (1998)
** Teaming Up: The Small Business Guide to Collaborating With
Others to Boost
Your Earnings and Expand Your Horizons (1997)
** Finding Your Perfect Work: The New Career Guide to Making
a Living,
Creating a Life (1996)
=========
Colleen Paddock of Syracuse, NY, also an EP to 2 children (12
and 6 years),
runs an archival/photo safe scrapbooking business. She sells
the supplies and
teaches techniques and "enjoys every minute of what I do."
Says Colleen,
"Best of all I have tangible benefits of my business along
with all the other
perks - some truly great legacies in the making in books!"
Her advice to
fellow EPs? "I think the best advice I can give is...do
what you love - the
benefits are numerous!"
Colleen was randomly selected
to win SECOND PRIZE -- A $100 EP Gift Basket,
filled with:
** Items from the "EP Gift Shop," a specialty online
gift shop stocked with
unique and original inventory created and/or designed by parents
who work at
home
_____________________
READER FEEDBACK
Dear Jodie Lynn,
I'm an EP and just finished reading
my bi-monthly newsletter from
Entrepreneurial Parent. I just wanted to comment on the answer
you gave to
the mother who was concerned about her son's behavior. You said
that the
child had most likely been labeled, and was simply living up
to the
"expectations" that had been set for him by the individual(s)
who gave him
his "name."
What a wonderful answer! And
I really liked your solutions. It's so true!
Children (and adults) live up to expectations. I saw this same
kind of thing
in my son. Someone, at some point in his life, told him that
he asn't an A/B
student and that he was a fighter, and he believed that person.
It took me
and my husband over a year and a half to convince my son that
he COULD be an
A/B student, if he tried, and that he didn't need to fight to
get by in this
world. He is now an A/B student, to his great surprise, and his
teachers
always have very positive feedback regarding his grades and behavior
at
school. On his latest report card, the teacher's comments include
things
like: "very cooperative," "very respectful,"
"good work habits," "excellent
effort," "does commendable work." These are comments
about a boy who, two
years ago, had a neighborhood parent call the police because
he was picking
on a boy smaller than he is.
My son is a testament to what
can happen when parents don't allow the
thoughtless remarks of others to taint their children. I hope
your advice
works as well for the mother who contacted you, as a similar
approach worked
for my family.
Wendy Brown
Your Office Annex
brownew@cybertours.com
_____________________________
CONTACT/SUBSCRIPTION INFO
The Entrepreneurial Parent, LLC
is not engaged in rendering legal or
financial advice. If expert assistance is required, the services
of a
licensed professional should be sought.
This newsletter may be redistributed
freely via the Internet. Re-publishing
of separate articles for your print publication needs approval
first; write
to: Roberts@en-parent.com
for permission.
© 2000, The Entrepreneurial
Parent, LLC
Editor: Lisa M. Roberts
POB 320722, Fairfield, CT 06432; http://en-parent.com
Ph/Fax: (203) 371-6212, Email: office@en-parent.com
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