At long last, I’m here in D.C. for Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress on Education and Learning 2012! Instead of live-tweeting with the #momcon2012 hashtag (go check it out if you’re into the Twitter-Land scene), I’ve decided to provide some highlights from each day of the event in BlogWorld. I didn’t bring my camera tonight, so you’ll have to forgive my lack of visuals. Here’s what I took away from tonight’s activities:
1. President Obama and his wife have attended every teacher/student conference for their daughters since they’ve been in DC. I find that a little bit amazing.
2. There are some amazingly intelligent, compassionate, and funny women here, with a surprising appreciation for sarcasm and irony. I didn’t expect that last bit, and am delightfully pleased.
3. I met a woman from PA who’s running for House, because she feels like she can make more of an impact from the inside. Her story was wonderful, and I’m going to ask her to do an interview with me on this blog so that you can hear it too. I jokingly asked her to run in my state, and she just looked at me and said flatly, “no, you should run for your state.” I need more people like that in my life.
4. A representative from VH1′s Save the Music presented this evening, talking about how important music was in the schools. You know that this is dear to my heart, and the video he showed of all these beautiful children finding meaning through music was moving. I couldn’t help myself. After his presentation, I chased the presenter down in the parking lot and told him about Ian in 60 seconds. It was an elevator pitch. I said to him: “he’s your poster child.” I actually said that. It’s amazing what a moment that you know will never come your way again can make one say. Perhaps nothing will come from it, but he was receptive, and nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
5. I recognize more faces from facebook and blogging connections than I thought I would. It’s fascinating to meet the people behind the opinions I’ve been reading for months now.
6. Everybody has their “thing” that has driven them here. For some it’s nutrition, for some it’s providing materials for impoverished kids. For some, like me, it’s what and how we’re teaching our kids. Education’s a huge machine, and it’s nice to see people genuinely passionate about different pieces.
That’s enough for tonight. I promise to bring my camera tomorrow so you can see some pics.
