My good friend, and guest blogger, Chris Taylor, shares his thoughts...


Even before the presidential election occurred, before the first ballot was cast and before MSNBC went all googly-eyed over him. It was somewhere between the Iowa Caucus and Super Tuesday, I began to notice a strange thing going on. Maybe some will call it a happening, a movement or just a trend. But, has anyone, besides me, recognized the fixation that kids have with President-Elect Obama? This fascination is neither subtle nor discrete. Children of all ages, ethnicities and religious influences seem to be under this spell. I truly can understand the adult version of this obsession. For the past eight years, some of us have felt imprisoned by or a victim of an ideology that has the country embroiled in two wars and the worst economic condition most of us can remember. So, it’s entirely comprehensible why lots of the population, republican and democrat, feel a fresh wind blowing our way in the guise of Mr. Obama.

But why kids? Do they know, or understand the possibilities of their educational futures under his leadership? I think not. Is it his glowing smile, calming tone of voice and the fact that he, unlike most adults, actually talks to children as human-beings? Maybe. Can it be the fact that he is the father of two young daughters and other children may just see him as a fatherly figure? More likely.

Whatever the case, I came recognize this phenomenon during the primary season, when my three year old niece, Kamari, noticed a newspaper photo of the, then nominee, on the ground. With a furled brow and a “somebody better give me some answers” look on her angelic, but very disturbed face. She stopped in her Dora the Explorer tracks and asked, “Who put B’wak Obama on the gwound?” When no answers were forthcoming, she picked up the picture and carried it to a more suitable location to be placed. My question was, how does she know who Barack Obama is and why is he important to her? Since that time, I’ve witnessed a multitude of very young children get extremely excited at the sight or sound of Obama. It’s as though Tickle-Me Elmo or SpongeBob SquarePants were elected president.

By nature, I tend to be somewhat cynical. You might not be able to recognize this truth because of the sappy topic I chose to write about. However, while getting my daily fix of cable news last week, my suspicions were confirmed. The Obama family was serving Thanksgiving dinner to some of Chicago’s down-and-outers at a homeless shelter. Nice, right? Even nicer, when a group of kindergarteners from the school across the street recognized him and went into a frenzy, he walked over to address the school of youngsters. They said he dedicated thirty minutes of his precious time talking with and answering questions from the overjoyed children. Granted, the questions probably weren’t about the cratering economy or discussing a solvent plan on saving the big three. But the kids sat and listened. Has anyone ever attempted to have a conversation with a group of five year olds without resorting to tactics that leave YOU without dignity and insulting their intelligence?

The point is, when it comes to engaging children, I think we all can learn something from this combination of Pied Piper and Santa Claus. We can learn to be calm and to choose our words more carefully. Not only what we say, but how we say it, affects people. Now, I could be wrong about this whole thing. However, it does feel good for a skeptic like me to speculate.

***Thanks to my daughter, Christina, for finding this amazing video.***

If you would like to be a guest blogger, shoot me an e-mail @ amy.bowllan@reedbusiness.com