In the beginning...

What was it that Groucho Marx said, “I was born at a very young age”? That is about how we all begin, naked, vulnerable and brand new. And then we grow and develop in response to our own inherent greatness and in relationship to our environments, physical, emotional and psychological. I was brought up in a non-traditional household and I developed ideas and ideals about the world, my role in it and what kind of parent I would be when I “grew up”.

Well, then I had two children of my own and I have begun to see that so many of those ideas and ideals are not in fact mine, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that development never stops. I am developing in this very moment, as these words flow out through my hands, my perspectives and ideas about things are changing in response to what I experience, who I am in the world and how I perceive myself.

When I gave birth to my second child, two months ago, my life changed forever. Not in some dramatic way, but in the simplest everyday type of way that just creeps in and takes over, like blackberry vines in your garden. A certain urgency to get on with my life, to find out what I will be when I “grow up” is one persistent tendril. Being the observant person that I am, I recognized that shift and plan to keep close track of it and you can too as you read along. So why is this taking the form of creating an educational opportunity for my children? I know that my children (now 3 ½ ad 2 months) will grow up much faster than originally anticipated and will need an education along the way. However, the options that are out there, are for the most part scary, unappealing, frightening… the adjectives could keep coming, but you get the idea. The two dove tail nicely I think, my need to find my vocation and the need my children have for an education.

So what qualifies me? Well, first I am a mom and every mother no matter her background is an educator (fathers too). Second, I have spent the last 15 years working with a non-profit who’s mission is the well-being of children and families. For more about that read here, www.EnCompassInstitute.org. The truth is I have to send my kids to school and I don’t like my options and I think I (and the people I work with) can do better. So follow this blog if you are a mother, an educator, a politician, a grandparent, an uncle, a brother, a sister, follow this blog if you are human and have children in your life. Follow along with me as I fumble my way through the starting of an educational opportunity for my children and the children of this community. Hopefully we will all learn something in the process and with any amount of luck the ripples of where this journey leads will be felt throughout the world.