Kids Reaching the Stars
When Jane Goodall was just 18-months old, her mother found her playing in bed with a load of dirt and worms.
Most parents would have scolded their child, but instead, her mother encouraged her to play with the worms, and reinforced how important they were to the earth and not to hurt them.
Her mother did suggest, however, that it was better to play outside with them.
And that began Jane’s love for nature and the beech tree outside her window.
A few years later, when Jane was 4.5 years old, she went missing while visiting a farm.
Her parents panicked and searched for Jane for hours, but she was nowhere to be found.
Finally, they found her in a hen house, trying to observe a hen lay an egg.
Again, instead of scolding her, Jane’s mother asked her what she learned about the egg.
Finally, when Jane was offered her dream job to study chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, the famous scientist, Louis Leakey, said a young woman couldn’t go alone and live in the forest.
Jane’s mother offered to go with her.
Jane went on to change the world by studying chimpanzees and proving they, too, were intelligent.
Most parents will go to the moon for their children, but it’s not about going there.
It’s all the little things that steer and feed their inner curiosity that provide them the opportunity to reach the stars.