It's time to stop whining and start believing in our kids

            As mentioned in the purpose to Brain Brew Cafe - my writing is all about inspiring idea for thinking smarter and more creatively.   The primary focus may be on innovations and business - however I'll also be writing about other areas where ideas are needed and that personally interest me.

          One of those is parenting.  A number of years ago I wrote a column called Great Aspirations! for Universal Press Syndicate with Dr. Russ Quaglia, director of the National Center for Student Aspirations at the University of Maine.  Here on the Brain Brew Blog, I'm going to take those columns from 10 years ago and update them.

            The focus of the Great Aspirations! column and parenting workshop is on helping parents inspire their kids. Think of it as a practical workshop for helping you become the kind of parent you promised yourself you would one day be.

            Most specifically, it's about tangible ideas for making a difference. It's about hopes, dreams and, most important, IDEAS to help you encourage, inspire and shape your kids into confident, happy, motivated children.

            Today more than ever, I believe parents need a source of hope. Everywhere you look folks are whining about the erosion of the American family, the crisis in education and the shortage of old-fashioned common sense. From the president to the halls of Congress, on radio talk shows and in editorial page commentaries, the air is filled with the rhetoric of whining. Enough already!

            These blog posts comes from a no-whining-allowed perspective, one that's worked with real kids. In fact,  school-focused Aspirations programs, led by the National Center for Student Aspirations at the University of Maine, have delivered the following remarkable results among public school students:

            -- a 150 percent increase in national proficiency test scores

            -- a 50 percent increase in grades

            -- a 72 percent drop in discipline problems

            -- a 25 percent decline in absenteeism

            And that's just the start. Research also confirms that children with high aspirations are far more equipped to resist peer pressure, drugs and alcohol. They also are more excited about learning, have greater ambition and a greater sense of overall happiness.

            Great Aspirations! is about taking wisdom and inspiration from the school-focused Aspirations programs and making it available to parents.

            I believe in moms and dads. I believe that moms and dads, stepmoms and stepdads out there want to do the right thing for their kids. The challenge is that in this chaotic world, it's hard to know what to do.

            I believe it's time to believe.

            As parents, it's time to believe that all of our children have something special and unique within them.

            It's time to believe, beyond a doubt, that we influence their futures and mold their lives every time we sit down and spend a moment -- and every time we don't.

            It's time to believe that the smallest things we do -- and don't do -- make a difference in the lives of our children, and that these small differences add up to something significant over time.

            Most important, it's time to believe wonderful surprises are just waiting to happen. All of our children's hopes and dreams are within their grasp -- all we as parents have to do is reach out and believe in them. Once we really believe, our kids will have the foundation for unlocking their true genius!