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.

Tea and Time

Tea and time have something in common. They both begin with letter "T". There is a reason for that. Under that commonality also lies a lesson of life.
To enjoy tea, we need to take time.
Tea is no longer mere leaves but a form of art from beautiful hands. After the leaves are dried, they hand roll them to form a certain shape and sort them out at the end. Imagine how those beautiful girls and ladies pluck the leaves in a sunny spring morning. The majority of the workers in a tea garden are women.

The shapes are typically from the delicate hand rolling. Leaves from different types of tea come in different shapes, texture and colors. First of all, even before the steeping starts, we observe the tea leaves.
Second, you pour hot water into the cup. You don't just sit and wait (and getting bored and even impatient). Watch the leaves unfold and dance up and down slowly. This "agony of the leaves" is necessary for the flavors and nutrients to be released.
The timing depends on our individual preference in taste. Not too long, not too short. Steeping is also about timing.
Finally, we don't gulp a cup of tea as we do with a can of soda. We sip. Before we sip, we observe the color and the uprising mist of the liquid. We smell the aroma. These are all part of enjoyment of tea.
It all takes time. All the good things in life take time to brew and to enjoy.
Time is the most precious thing. It is also most constant thing as well. We can't get more of it by rushing it. We could potentially lose it if we rush - not only time but also all the great things in life that must be enjoyed with and over time.
A Chinese proverb says it all, "Hurry and impatience prevents the enjoyment of hot tofu."
You may ask, what about the need for speed and convenience?
The faster pace of living demands speed and convenience. Fast foods have become a part of our diet in the past decades as more and more families have two working parents and more and more families have two working parents and more and more families have two working parents and more and more people are into sports, travel and adventures. Mankind invented automobiles, aircrafts and spacecrafts to move from A to B faster. They are the propellers of civilization and evolution from nomadic to agriculture to industrial society.

Yes, they are some times our friends.
Our physical and psychological well being does not improve even though economically we are better off. More people and families are suffering from stresses of all kinds. Recent years have seen increased health problems such as obesity and cancer.

Overdose of speed and convenience can and have already hurt our quality of life. But there is a limit.
Tea can help in many ways with its powerful healing power and the lesson it teaches us about time and timing. It may be time to slow down a little bit and to get back to the basic of life.
Jay is the owner of TaimuTea.com - an online tea store that focuses on tea knowledge, news and education in addition to providing quality fresh teas from Taimu Mountain and its surrounding areas in Fujian province of China.

http://www.taimutea.com

Plant A Simple Tea Garden

Materials Needed
30 pellets) 3 packets of organic tea leaves seeds (YOUR CHOICE) Grow-rich or nutrient-rich potting soil 1 decorative clay or metal planter 1 package of clay pellets (approx.
(ASK YOUR NURSERY FOR THE BEST RECOMMENDATION FOR YOUR AREA)
Directions
These will absorb water and promote healthy root development of the tea plants. Spread the clay pellets evenly along bottom of planter. 1.
Moisten potting soil in a large plastic bag and then spread mix over clay pellets in planter, leaving 1/2 inch at top of planter. 2.
Sprinkle seeds on soil, leaving about 2 or so inches between different varieties. 3.
Lightly cover the seeds with dry soil, and then moisten slightly with a spray bottle or a few drops of water. 4.
Label the varieties of tea on the bottom or side of planter, or create popsicle-stick signs to place in the soil. 5.
Move planter to a warm area with natural sunlight. 6.
When tea leaves reach a height of about two inches, thin out seedlings across the total planter surface to provide adequate space for future growth. 7.
Water periodically, only when the soil is moderately dry. 8.
DO NOT OVERWATER!!)
Sit back, sip and enjoy! Pick tea leaves sparingly and brew in a hot pot of water. 9.