There’s nothing better than spending time with your kids outside, enjoying an entertaining, creative, and informative activity. But sometimes, these activities are hard to coordinate. Thankfully, gardening appeals to parents and kids from all walks of life. All you need is a dedicated area in your yard or patio and seeds, and you’re ready to get started. LET YOUR KIDS CHOOSE THE PLANTS. This is arguably the most crucial part of igniting your children’s interest in gardening. If you pick out the fruits, veggies, and flowers you want to grow and invite your kids to help plant, water, and pick, they may lose interest quickly. Instead, include them in the process from the get-go. GREEN THUMBS IN TRAINING HOW TO MAKE GARDENING A FAMILY ADVENTURE
Since joining our firm last spring, Shanti Steffen, our new Operations Manager, has been climbing a steep learning curve. “People go to school for four years to learn what I learned in my first nine months,” she says. Shanti has more than a decade of experience in accounting, bookkeeping, and finance roles, mostly for large corporate employers, and she is accustomed to learning on the job. In her current position, she provides all-around administrative support, from answering phones and email to assisting Toph with client service. “Anything that anyone needs here — I like to fill in the gaps,” she says. She joined our firm partly because she wanted to work on a close-knit team that would support her in advancing her career. “I wanted to find a place I could call home, that could be a career for me, that I could stay with, grow with, and be more than just a number,” Shanti says. ”It’s a nice community we have been able to build.” Shanti already has passed the first of three parts of the Special Enrollment Exam to qualify as an Enrolled Agent authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Holders of this license must demonstrate skills in tax planning, individual and business tax returns, and taxpayer representation. As a working mother of a 10-year-old daughter, Shanti sandwiches studying for the exams into the evening hours, “after school, after showers, after my daughter goes to bed,” she says. “The TV is turned off and the schoolwork gets turned on, and it’s time to crack down.” Shanti makes sure her daughter, who is in fifth grade, stays on top of her schoolwork, too. At 10 years of age, her daughter is active in Girl Scouts, has participated in gymnastics and cheerleading, does frequent community service projects, and takes sign language classes with her mom. “She is very spunky, very energetic, and very smart,” Shanti says. “She definitely gives me a run for my money.” On the job, Shanti says, helping clients is the role she enjoys most. “It’s definitely fulfilling to be able to provide services that are meaningful to somebody else,” she says. As she works toward her Enrolled Agent license, she is looking forward to “gaining that knowledge, sharing it, and incorporating it to benefit someone else’s life.” Mastering Career Growth and Motherhood Meet Shanti, Our New Operations Manager
Take them to the store and let them pick out seeds or plants. Encourage them to choose produce they
already enjoy eating, making it even more fun for them! Just be sure their choices
can grow in your area during the current season.
MAKE SPACE AND PLANT TOGETHER. After choosing your
seeds, you must ensure your garden is ready to sustain life. Dedicate a section of your lawn or patio
to your gardening efforts and start laying soil or filling your planters. Help your children transplant their seeds or young plants directly into the area. Now, put them in charge of caring for the plants by checking on and watering them. You may want to follow behind to ensure they aren’t over or under-watering. MAKE IT FUN AND INFORMATIVE! You can get your kids more involved by encouraging them to research their plants and track their growth. They can even look online to see how their plants should be developing. Soon enough, those fruits and vegetables will be ready to eat, and you should let your children pick anything ripe when possible. Seeing the fruits of their labor (literally) will make this experience even more enlightening and enjoyable for them.
–Toph Sheldon
2 • 513-513-8674
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