Start a Ritual of Tea Time with Your girls

and big girls do too. Little girls love tea parties... hats, little teacups, beads and bracelets.

It's as if it's just part of being a girl ... Can't you just picture it? Tea time!
There are so many great reasons to join up with our friends
across the Atlantic and begin the tradition of afternoon
tea EVERY day, but realizing that we busy moms aren't
ready for a big step like that, let's start with a once a
week ritual to build a fabulous habit and tradition or our
girls to last a lifetime!
Why have weekly teatime?
peaceful.... You'll see... Provide a once a week respite from the craziness of life around a cup of tea. Even for kids these days between school, homework, extra-curricular activities, sports and more homework, life is anything but peaceful.

For most of us life is just a little nutty. Let's face it ladies. It's peaceful. 1.
2. It's fun! As I said above, girls of all ages LOVE the
ritual of tea. Something about pouring the liquid out of
the pot into lovely cups... it's just a little slice of
heaven.
That translates to graceful, gentle, soft...everything that you think of when you're thinking of tea. I may get some hate mail here but when the woman was created, she was created FEMININE! Tea is an excellent time to focus on gentleness and grace. It's feminine.

3.
4. It's memory building. Think of years from now when your
girls will be recounting the fond memories of your weekly
tea together. Better yet, imagine seeing your girls start
the same tradition with their girls.
Opportunities abound in tea time to show your little ladies how to be kind, quiet and caring, as well as how to use a fork, sip without slurping, etc. There is really no easier way to teach your young ladies manners than at a lovely tea table. It's enriching.

5.
For this reason alone I think tea time should be mandatory for families with teenagers. As your girls get older it will be easier for them to share what's been going on will create a culture of conversation. It encourages conversation. 6.
7. It's memory building. Think of years from now when your
girls will be recounting the fond memories of your weekly
tea together. Better yet, imagine seeing your girls start
the same tradition with their girls.
Maybe it's time for you to think about starting the weekly
tradition of tea in your household this week. It's not a
difficult thing to do and resources and books abound on the
topic. Start simple and you'll see... it will become a habit
in no time.
Annette Yen is a home schooling mom of two beautiful
daughters who enjoy tea with their mom often. Having grown
up with the ritual of tea being passed down throughout the
generations, Annette loves sharing her love of teatime with
other moms. Annette is also the owner of the website

http://www.funevents4girls.com
where you can sign up for
her free "Tips for Tuesday Tea Time" newsletter.

Teddy Bear Tea Party - Start the Tradition Now!

The joy a stuffed animal can bring to a child is a wonderful and amazing thing and I believe every child should have at least one favorite bear in her lifetime. They're cuddly, warm, and cute and they don't make a mess on your living room floor before guests arrive! Children of all ages love stuffed teddy bears and for good reason!
The Teddy Bear Tea Party! Now, combine this great love of all things fluffy with a little girl's tea party and you have the makings of the grandest event of the year for your daughter.
So let's look at both in just a little more detail. the tea and the teddy bears. Obviously the two main elements must be accounted for...

There are several ways you can create this memory-filled event for your little one.
Remember mom; all the little ones will probably have a good toothbrush at home anyway! More sugar is required in the form of cookies, little chocolates and other tea fancies to complete the tea table. Don't make the tea too strong and remember to have plenty of sugar (get the cubes...little girls LOVE the cubes) and cream for those who have not yet acquired the taste for afternoon tea yet.

You can go with the varieties from the tea aisle in the grocery store or find some fine lovely teas at various upscale tea shops or even online. Blackberry, apple or vanilla are a few of our favorites. Choose a tea with some added flavor. Not too much scrimping on the sugar here, mom...this is the event of the year remember? Assuming you're planning your party for the younger of the young ladies, you'll want to keep the tea simple and SWEET!

The tea. 1.
Or, if you want to get even more elaborate, have a make your own stuffed animal event as part of your party, where each guests can build a bear or other stuffed animal to take home. Providing a simple craft for the girls to make a teddy tea shawl (an inexpensive cloth napkin and some fabric makers or rubber stamps will do nicely) will help to make the stuffed animals more at ease at the tea table. The most economical way to include the animals is to ask each child to bring their own favorite teddy or other animal along for the event. As you know, not all children choose a bear as their favorite stuffed animal so you might want to offer some flexibility here!

The Teddy Bears. 2.
Include the picture with your thank you notes so each will have a grand remembrance of the day as well. Finally, remember to take a photo of each guest with the guest of honor and their bears. You'll want to take plenty of pictures of the little ones, pinkies high sipping their tea while enjoying their tea dainties. Keep the entire party short and simple for maximum memory making and remember your camera and film.
At the end of each year's celebration, create a special page for a scrapbook so your girls will have something wonderful to pass on to their daughters along with the annual tradition! One is never too old to love a stuffed teddy bear! and each year you can guarantee the teddy bears will come along too.

I bet you'll find that the tradition you start when your girls are young will continue on into their teen years and beyond... Celebrate the start of the school year or celebrate the first day of spring. Make this an annual event for your girls. Teddy Bear tea parties don't need to be just for birthday parties either.

Boston Tea Party

In Boston the duty was circumvented by merchants getting tea which was smuggled by Dutch traders. This raised quite an uproar in the colonies so the act was repealed in 1770, all except the duty on tea, which was retained to prove that Parliament could raise revenue by taxing without the approval of the colonists. In 1767 British Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, a duty (tax) on various products imported by the colonists.

The early settlers in the British colonies were great tea drinkers and Britain was immersed in financial difficulties at the time.
It allowed tea to be shipped only in East India Company ships and consigned tea to its own special agents in the colonies who could undersell the colonial merchant who had bought his tea through a middleman or Dutch smugglers at much higher prices. The Tea Act passed a duty on tea and provided for a monopoly on all tea exported to the colonies. Then in 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act designed to aid the East India Tea Company which was on the verge of bankruptcy with loads of tea they were unable to sell.
(No taxation without representation.) Much of the ballyhoo was about Britain taxing the colonists without them having a say. And it created a monopoly for the East India Company. It would reduce already established colonial merchants to ruin. Even though Britain was offering tea to the colonies at a cheaper price than they could get it and thought the colonists would favor this, (wrong) it caused quite a rant among the colonists.
In New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston, tea agents resigned and canceled orders. In some ports they refused to pay the tax or offload ships. There was a boycott on tea with women becoming leaders in the movement.
A Lady's Adieu to Her Tea-Table FAREWELL the Tea-board with your gaudy attire,
Ye cups and ye saucers that I did admire;
To my cream pot and tongs I now bid adieu;
That pleasure's all fled that I once found in you.
Farewell pretty chest that so lately did shine,
With hyson and congo and best double fine;
Many a sweet moment by you I have sat,
Hearing girls and old maids to tattle and chat;
And the spruce coxcomb laugh at nothing at all,
Only some silly work that might happen to fall.
No more shall my teapot so generous be
In fillin the cups with this pernicious tea,
For I'll fill it with water and drink out the same,
Before I'll lose LIBERTY that dearest name,
Because I am taught (and believe it is fact)
That our ruins is aimed at in the late act,
Of imposing a duty on all foreign teas,
Which detestable stuff we can quit when we please.
LIBERTY'S the Goddess that I do adore,
And I'll maintain her right until my last hour,
Before she shall part I will die in the cause
For I'll never be govern'd by tyranny's laws.
(Source: A Handbook of the American Wing, N.Y. 1924, from Le Centre d'histoire de Montréal)
Over 5,000 people from Boston and surrounding areas met with the governor to send the ships back to England since particularly disturbing in Boston the royal governor Thomas Hutchinson demanded that arriving ships would be able to deposit their cargoes and duties would be paid. The colonies linked together in a common cause.
On December 16, 1773, disguised as Mohawk Indians, American Patriots boarded the tea ships and threw 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company into Boston Harbor.
These acts united the colonies and set the stage for the Revolutionary War. In retaliation, Parliament passed what was known by the colonists as the Intolerable Acts, among other things closing the Boston Port until they paid for the destroyed tea.
See
http://www.tea-spice-and-everything-nice.com
for inspirational writings and selections of tea, spice, teapots, spice racks, pepper mills, gifts for the tea drinker, and many other special items

Come to Tea: An Elegant Garden Gathering

Outdoor spaces of all kinds, including balconies, can be successfully adapted to a tea party. It's a charming reminder of bygone days and childhood make-believe. Perhaps nothing says "garden party" like having afternoon tea outdoors.
Tea parties span generations and will be enjoyed by your most sophisticated women friends or all the giggling little girls of your acquaintance.
What makes an elegant tea party? Look at these factors.
Flowers
Plan to hold your tea party when your garden is in its fullest bloom -- perhaps it's lilac time, June roses, or peony season. Be sure to cut some of the blooms for the tea table vases. If you don't have a garden, buy an armful of flowers at a farmers' market or stop by a country ditch and pick bunches of wild daisies and Queen Anne's lace.
Invitations
Include an invitation for the little ones to bring along a doll or teddy friend. -- perfect for day-blooming flowers. Typically, tea is held around 4 p.m. Your guests will recognize your party as an elegant affair and dress accordingly!

Send handwritten notes by snail mail.
Table Setting
If it's a little girls' party, you might want to invest in two or three miniature tea sets. Instead, use a crisp linen tablecloth, pressed cloth napkins and your best bone china cups and saucers. Stash the paper table covering and the plastic glasses just for today. The more elegant, the better.
They can add an elegant touch, whether left unadorned or covered with flowered chintz. Consider setting your straight-back indoor dining chairs outdoors. Try to have adequate seating for everyone.
Hats
Tea time is a fun way to introduce young ones to "elegant party" manners. Include "grown-up" shoes and old jewellery -- anything that will make the little ones feel elegant. You can also include a box of flowery cast-offs for dressing up. Make decorating the hats a fun activity at the party.

If the party is for little girls, collect old hats, scarves and silk flowers at a thrift shop, yard sale or discount store. Encourage all of your guests to wear hats -- big-brimmed, floppy and flowered.
Food
You can substitute mini-cupcakes or tiny tarts. Sugar cookies and petit fours are traditional sweets. Try sandwiches of watercress, cucumber, or egg with the crusts removed and cut in quarters. All sandwiches and sweets should be dainty finger-food.

Other than teaspoons, no cutlery should be required at tea.
Tea
One of the first things that I learned in seventh grade home economics class was how to brew a proper pot of hot tea, but that was many years ago. I suspect that tea-making is becoming a lost art.
Tea is actually the common name of one plant: Camillia sinesis. The three basic types of tea -- black, green and oolong -- are distinguished by the amount of oxidization that the tea leaves have undergone. The more than 3,000 varieties of tea in the world are all derived from those three basic types.
Herbal teas -- more properly, tisane or infusion -- are made from a wide variety of flowers, herbs, barks, berries, fruits and spices.
Have milk (not cream!), sugar and fresh lemon wedges available. At a minimum, offer your guests a traditional tea and a caffeine-free herbal choice.
So, dust off your teacups and your manners and sit down with your girlfriends for a proper tea party. It's a lovely summer interlude!
About The Author
Visit her at Her latest how-to guide "Attracting Butterflies to Your Home and Garden" is now available on her web site. Debbie Rodgers, the haven maven, owns and operates Paradise Porch, and is dedicated to helping people create outdoor living spaces that nurture and enrich them.
www.paradiseporch.com
Mail to and get a free report on "Eight easy ways to create privacy in your outdoor space".
debbie@paradiseporch.com
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