WHEN THE GOIN' GETS TOUGH

Another quality I admire in my kids, and have no idea how they got, is tenacity. All four of us absolutely adore digging into a new project. Unfortunately though, John and I are much more likely to say "When the going gets tough, move on to the next project!" (think half-painted cinder block wall) Not so with our kids.

Son Austin used to make me kinda crazy when he was a tween. Whenever he had a problem to solve - whether at school, in a video game, fixing his computer, or whatever - he was like a dog with a bone. He just couldn't let go, or think about anything else, until he had worked it out. As it turns out, that's a most excellent quality for a computer programmer to have!

With Lex, you can always tell when she has sunk her teeth into something by noting the speed of her knitting needles. Knitting must be a form of meditation for her - a facilitator for working through problems in her head. The needles have been going ninety-to-nothing ever since she got the news about being laid off, and boy, has it paid off! In one short week she has managed to work her way through several books on starting your own business, come up with an entire business plan, designed and set up a website, re-designed and printed up new business cards, attended a networking function, applied for grants, signed up to work with a mentor, made arrangements to attend a conference where she will take several classes related to green design, created and distributed a survey in order to better understand her target clientele, and researched home-staging as a possible "bread-and-butter" sideline, while she builds up her client base. And that's just the part I've heard about! Who knows what else she's been up to?

It's inspiring, to tell you the truth. Almost makes me want to grab a paint brush and head out to the wall. Almost.