Example. Empowerment. Opportunity.

With an 8 year old, a 2 year old and an  almost born, I’ve been thinking about education. More specifically, as we try to contain, if not handle, the tntrums of the two year old, desperation makes me think. So what do I think? Is it desperation? OK, not really, but still, there is nothing like a two year old’s tantrum to make you ponder the futility of your own influence.

So what should I be passing on to my children? What kind of school should I be readying them for? Cousins attend private schools with price tags that make Harvard seem cheap. Other cousins are home schooled. I’m a product of my parents more than the schools I attended. If I’m honest, those schools weren’t very effective at dealing with me. No more effective than I was at dealing with them, although they may have been a bit more prepared for me than I was for them.

If you look at my scholastic record though, you wouldn’t guess that I would found companies, employ friends and solve complex business problems for a living today. So what is it that I learned? Where did that come from? Was it innate? is it just our job to enable? Or should we be teaching?

So I’ve landed on a few core things: Curiosity, grit and bit of humility! That’s it. The rest is up to them. Sounds so easy. But it isn’t!

How does one “teach” curiosity or grit? This isn’t an easy road, for us or them.

Example. Empowerment. Opportunity.

That’s what I’ve decided.