Hooray for parents!

It is hard to find a whole group of people that work tirelessly for the well-being of other people — their children. Parents are passionate about their children — they dream about them, work for them, care for them, create special experiences, hold space in their hearts and outside for their tears, joy, shame, pain and more. Get around to talking to one of them and you can feel their passion. They are willing to do anything for their children. Their passion is contagious.

I got up this morning with a skip in my walk, a shine in my eyes and a big smile on my face. I am looking forward to the Parent Map Education Fair where almost 50 schools will share information about their work and I will share about The Art of Education. That might sound utterly boring and even geeky to some of you out there but to me, its as good as heading out to my favorite vacation spot. Its the one event where I get to meet a whole load of my favorite people — parents. I truly love what I do to make a living. It keeps me alive. I love being with children, thinking about education and working with parents. Parents are one of my greatest sources of excitement and passion. Sounds hoaky? No, really. I know it can be hard to believe. I get it. But you're just going to have to trust me on this one. Why you ask?

It is hard to find a whole group of people that work tirelessly for the well-being of other people — their children. Parents are passionate about their children — they dream about them, work for them, care for them, create special experiences, hold space in their hearts and outside for their tears, joy, shame, pain and more. Get around to talking to one of them and you can feel their passion. They are willing to do anything for their children. Their passion is contagious – you can hear it in their voice, see it in their eyes, feel it cover their whole bodies as they work through finding schools, camps, outings, activities, vacations, classes and more so their child(ren) might have the best shot at life. Whether or not I agree with their ideas, doesn't matter, I get their emotions. I sense their deep concern, their worries, their restlessness, their hopes, dreams, joy and love for their children.

I thrive on their passion. It is special getting to work with people who genuinely, unconditionally care about my ultimate clients — their children. Their passion infuses me. They make me think harder, work harder and love harder. They make it easy for me to love what I do.

So, a big hooray for parents! I look forward to speaking to a load of them this evening from 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle.