Bee-Tees began about a year ago. My daughter was two and I felt it was time to start the conversations that would affect her behavior for the rest of her life.  I was searching for a way to connect with my daughter on a daily basis about the things that matter in life; kindness, honesty, fairness & friendliness. I wanted a way to teach her through daily thoughtful conversation about positive character and how she should treat others.

My husband and I came up with the idea to make a shirt that expressed the kind of message that we wanted to instill in our daughter, Lena. Dressing Lena in a Bee-Tee gave us a teachable moment in the morning to explain that ‘beeing kind’ means showing kindness to everyone. We would take 60 seconds to tell her that ‘beeing fair’ meant sharing her toys with her friends and that ‘beeing friendly' meant inviting everyone to play. On the back left shoulder we put an additional message ‘back your bee’. This little message we hoped would inspire others to read the bee message on the front and hold Lena responsible for her daily actions. We are hoping that children will start inspiring each other to communicate and exhibit positive character. Throughout the day as she glances down at her Bee-Tee she remembers our conversation from earlier in the day. This allows us to give guidance throughout the day using Bee-Tees as vehicle for a positive character message.

As Lena began wearing her Bee-Tees other Moms asked how they too could share this experience with their children. And so Bee-Tees as a business was born. Youth Bee-Tees have been so successful that Bee-Tees now offer Ladies Bee-Tees with messages like ‘bee inspired’, ‘bee happy’ and ‘Let it bee’. The Bee-Tee line also now includes hats, visors and bags. A Children’s book entitled ‘Please, oh please just bee good’ is in the works and should be available in the fall.

Spend some moments inspiring yourself and your child to bee the best they can bee!

Communication is the key in any relationship. Bee-Tees provide a teachable moment of communication between parents and children. With the environment in which we find ourselves today, parents should take responsibility to teach their children about positive character. In our hectic lives it can sometimes be difficult to find the time or opportunity to start these conversations about character.  Kindness, honesty and fairness must come back into our businesses, our government and our lives. We are responsible for teaching our children, not friends, television or movies. Bee-Tees is a vehicle for parents to use to start a conversation about these traits.

Bee-Tees founder Melissa Patton

with daughter Lena

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All photos property of Character Bee, LLC - 2009