I started this new year (and decade) with a big bang in Munich, my hometown. The fireworks could be seen lighting up the night sky all over the city, and one could feel the excitement and joy for a new year and what a year it would be!
Now going into its second season, KinderCone is bringing the tradition of the Schultuete to America; I am proud to say that the response was overall really positive and enthusiastic and I have high hopes for the Schultuete tradition to take roots here in the States.
2010 marks the 200 year anniversary of this long standing and highly anticipated event for every first time scholar in Germany and I will try my best to find as many old images as possible, my collection so far can be seen at KinderCones Flickr Account Last year around this time I was finishing up the last touches on my first badge of KinderCones; as you know, each and every Schultuete is still hand assembled in small villages around Bamberg, a lovely small town in southwest Germany. I would like to share my favorite KinderCone moments with you over the next few entries and hope you enjoy the images. We at KinderCone (meaning my girls and I) are looking forward to another fun
Creating this childhood memory at Emmett School in August
filled and successful second year and many smiling faces on the day of Kindergarden Graduation or First Day of School!
Proud first grader at Bell School in September
Celebrating Oktoberfest KinderCone style
A future enthusiast tries a KinderCone in July
For more images, go to my website KinderCone.
Thanks for all you support and I am looking forward to another great year!
I am spending Christmas in my hometown Munich this year, with my four girls and my husband. The good news is that we are seasoned travellers and have done the pack and go (lightly) many many times before. And yet I am (again) stumped when it comes to packing for a Christmas vacation; well, I did buy the gifts for my sister, her live-in boyfriend, her son, and his parents. (Thank you Barnes&Noble!!!!) I packed the almost self made but still very personal photo calendars for everyone who wants to have 12 months of the Lie’s in their kitchen, and numerous groceries that are ONLY available here in the States (Chai Tea from Trader Joe’s?) BUT – what should I bring for the girls? If I packed all their items on the wishlist, well, a jet would not be big enough and I think even the rather generous two suitcase allowance per person(free of charge mind you!) of Lufthansa would not really suffice.
Which brings me to my second dilemma, Germany or not, I really want my girls to learn to be happy with the simple things in life – and having the Littlest Pet Shop Super Sized MacMansion including all 36 bobbly head weirdos – seems so, well complicated. So I guess Santa will come early this year (he really cannot come all the way to Germany and besides, the Christkind is totally taking the night of the 24th) and I hope that the Christmas markets, with their smells of roasted chestnuts, candied almonds and mullen wine will make up for missing wobbly heads under the tree. And maybe, just maybe we will have live candles on the tree this time around.
We had a wonderful balmy evening for this year’s first annual Lantern Fest and Parade, organized by the new German School Chicago. Thanks to the many families that came in support of the newly opened school; it was great to hear voices from many different countries joining in song and the crafting of our candle lit luminaries. It always amazes me that no lantern ever catches on fire…
The tradition of St. Martin’s Day goes back centuries when legend tells the tale of a knight cutting his coat in half to save a beggar from freezing to death. In present day Germany, children celebrate and honor his deed with parading down the streets singing, holding lanterns and lightening up the dark November nights.
Like the tradition of the Schultüte, or KinderCone, St. Martin’s Day is one of these moments in children’s lives that they cherish and continue to celebrate once they have children of their own.
I am attaching the school’s website for your information.
German School Chicago
KinderCone\’s 2009 Highlights
Now that I have accepted the Full Circle award at my recent attendance of the M2MOM’s conference, the real challenge begins. I have come full circle, and connected the dots, coming up with a great idea and executing it. The idea of the Schultüte, or school cone, as some refer to it, seems to be so natural for all Germans and many Austrians, and yet there is so much awareness that needs to be created. I have produced a video that I hope explains the tradition and conveys the feeling a KinderCone evokes. This Highlight Video really mirrors the essence of what a Schultüte is, and what KinderCone is hoping to accomplish here in the States. I have made some wonderful contacts at the conference with remarkable women who have built a business on the foundation of great ideas and hard work; many of them just like me with kids and husbands to feed and take care of. 2010 will be a great year for KinderCone and I believe that next summer the Schultüte will become more and more visible. Watch the video and tell me what you think, I would love to get feedback!
I am getting ready to stand in front of probably some of the most influential marketers and branding brains of some of the hottest companies and present them with my new idea. Last year when I attended the conference I was one of the only lone entrepreneurs, (and with a crazy concept at that) that was soaking all the information we could get at this intense two day conference in Chicago. 2009 M2Moms Annual Conference in Chicago If anyone is wondering whether these conferences are worth it, and they do cost a bundle, I would say yes – if you are ready to jump into the ring with all the other heavy-weights and are not afraid to tout your own horn, these networking marathons can give you a lot of ideas and, more importantly, contacts and confidence. So much confidence indeed that I contacted Liz Fongemie, the super nice VP of Sales this summer to tell her about KinderCone’s launch. She was thrilled to see a great website and when I did send her a KinderCone the very next day, she suggested I should come back to the annual meeting in Chicago and receive their annual FULL CIRCLE AWARD. I guess I really did come full circle within one year; managing to go from idea and concept in my head to actually selling and promoting KinderCones nationwide a mere year and a very short back-to-school season later. What I thought was even more intriguing was how PME Enterprises reacted when I asked whether it was allright if I brought my girls to the short little presentation at the conference. Not only are they welcome, they even have name badges waiting for them. I can’t wait to be honored with them present and show them that a lot of hard work pays off - it will also inspire them to help me push KinderCone further.
There are some great speakers, many of them women who really inspire me just reading their bio. Check out the conference, or – if you are participating – see you there!
Danke Schoen
I just received a stack of very colorful and sweet Thank You letters from the entire first grade class of Bell School. I had donated KinderCones to all of them on the first day of school and now they were thanking me, telling what they liked the most, Karli, the cat or the Kinderjournal; even the certificate received rave reviews. It seemed the children loved the fact that each KinderCone had its own number they could call their very own.
Being encouraged to write Thank You Notes is in my opinion a really great lesson that goes beyond simple writing practice; i teaches an etiquette that is becoming more and more rare in our society. I include a Thank You note in every order, sometimes directly to the child when I know it comes from a Grandparent or to the customer him or herself. It gives me great pleasure to sit down with my fountain pen (it actually is a Pelikan Brand designed specifically for children; Pelikano for Kids) and write a quick note. It doesn’t take that much time but adds a personal touch; I feel connected that way and so do my customers. I also just ordered my own stationary and plan on writing a lot more letters and notes. Email, Facebook and all the other social media tools at our disposal are great and have connected many of us in a more widespread way, but receiving a beautifully written note, as short as it may be, really shows you care.
This is why I was so smitten with Ms. Kaims’ class letters.
I also found a fun site and another enterprise run by a fellow Mom, Mindy Lockard\’s business to make everybody mind their manners!, Check it out, it gives great tips and has a membership option. This might be also a great teacher’s gift to use as a classroom curriculum.
School has been under way for a little while now and I am so delighted to receive emails and phone calls, little notes with praise and reflections on the first day of school and the memories that KinderCones created. Proud grandparents and aunts and uncles reported on the enthusiastic welcome that the gift received, and parents have assured me that the first day of school had become a special day to remember.
The sweetest story came from a Mom who contacted me the day after I had presented all the first graders at my daughter’s school with KinderCones. She told how upset her son was when his brand new KinderCone fell off the bike on the way home and was crushed. Especially the certificate was very important to him since it held his very own cone number. (each KinderCone has a limited edition certificate) After I assured her that we could re-write the certificate, she told me that her son had decided to use Karli, the plush cat and his nifty little bag for his future visits from the tooth ferry. She laughed:” You know, he wants to be so grown up, and yet he still is my little boy in so many ways”.
I thought that was so sweet and funny; that children still use their creativity and imagination in a world that too often has become predictable and lacks the wonders of childhood. I often think the small moments of childhood like the visit from the tooth ferry, a morning with filled boots by St. Niklas, a walk around the neighborhood with lit paper lanterns to celebrate the act of kindness and sharing (St. Martin’s Day); they all become part of a child’s life and their future generations. Many of these traditions have German and European roots and I have celebrated them with my family. As my KinderCone blog progresses, I will talk more about some celebrations and ideas for the change of seasons and Holidays.
In the meantime, let’s hope Karli is a good partner and doesn’t play with the tooth while the two of them are waiting for the tooth ferry!
School is back in session; on our first day of school I could fulfill the vision that I had all summer; imagine 115 First Graders walk home, proudly hugging their KinderCone (Schultüte), happy and relieved that their big day went well. These moments make it worth and ease any doubts or regrets one might have. I wanted to bring this tradition to the children because I knew how special it had made me feel when I went to school, but to realize how special it is to children who experience KinderCones for the first time, as a surprise and not an anticipated event – it made it even more rewarding for me.
As for the new phase of my own stage in motherhood, for the first time in 10 years I walked home to an empty house, no children for half a day, what a treat! My littlest one is now in the new German School Chicago and all my other girls are in KIndergarten, 3 and 6th Grade. Lots of lunches and snacks to make
- but a little chunk of time for me, myself and my business.
Since my launch this summer, I have proudly put up all the news and press that I have received for my new company KinderCone so far. I have also added other pages onto my blog site, but I have never really talked about what my blog wants to express or should be about. My first season is drawing to a close and all children, including my own four girls, are returning back to their classrooms. Some kids in America will wake up on that first morning of school and will be welcomed with a shiny and colorful KinderCone, full of gifts and thoughtful little items from their families. Some might even walk to school with it, like all the first graders in Germany, and some might get picked up from school with their KinderCone, making it a day to remember. I must say that I wish I could be there with so many of them, and I am also proud to say that KinderCones have spread throughout America. My numbers might still be small, but I feel that there is this movement toward creating a new tradition on the first day of school; to celebrate our children’s education and capture a family moment for eternity.
Not only am I launching a very unique product that introduces a new tradition to the American family, but I am doing it raising my own family here in Chicago. I have four great daughters ranging from 10 to 3 in age and a husband who is an ever driving force behind my ideas and execution. (more on starting a business without a business degree/can 1 hour workshops replace a MBA?) I aim to make this very interactive and lively full of discussions and tips and tricks on how to keep sane with kids, business and the personal quest to practice yoga poses while packing 20 lunches and 15 snacks per week. I will try to post new and interesting ideas and welcome all of your input and comments.
I am looking forward to learning as I write and to growing, not just with my children and my business, but my community of peers.
But first some fun: Karli, the cat comes to America and stuffs his first KinderCone!
KinderCone comes to America
