Dr. Brown really surprised me. He was all of that but with a new twist. A different, yet intelligent way to look at things, mixed with a little humor. He had me rolling in my chair and left me worrying that he had been hiding somewhere in my house all this time. He was THAT good. I'm not saying that he said anything that we as parents don't already know. It was all in the delivery and the examples he gave. Many of you can attest to the fact that how things are presented to you make all the difference in the world, even if your message is the same. It doesn't hurt that it all comes with a side of "helpful hints and tricks."

One of the first things he said was:

Character is who you are when no one is looking."

He emphasized this throughout his presentation. It's so very true, don't you think?

Basically, we have two teams which would be the teachers and the parents. Two teams, one goal. He stressed upon the importance of a parent's influence in a child's life (which we already know is true). One of the examples that he gave was of an apple tree. Some apples were in the tree, some, were on the ground. As parents, we need to teach our children how to be apples in the tree. Those apples on the ground are "easy picking." You pick one up, take a couple of bites and then drop it back on the ground again. We also need to let our children know that it's ok if they fall out of the tree from time to time. The lesson they need to learn is to then pick themselves up, dust themselves off and climb back up into that tree. If you stay on the ground, you are an easy "target." If you stay in the tree (or get back in it), you have a better chance for success in life.

A simple idea, which makes a good deal of sense.

I walked out of there that night with a few more tools under my belt. He gave me a lot to think about. Chickie and I had a good talk on the way home, and she was seriously impressed by what he had said and by our conversations, I could tell that most of what he said sunk in.

For the sake brevity, and to go along with my schedule, I've left a lot out. But he basically talked about those two things, and expended on them. He gave numerous examples that came from his life (he grew up with a single mom and numerous siblings in The Projects).

All in all, it turns out it wasn't a waste of time after all. It wouldn't have been anyway because Chickie's band was performing. But I was glad I didn't have to spend an hour and a half slapping myself silly just to stay awake.