Thank you, teachers

How easy it is to get so busy, so wrapped up in the hectic pace of life here on the verge of the 21st century, that we forget about the really important people -- the little people -- the children.

The quote above is taken from a motivational poster I saw recently entitled "Priorities". The picture on the poster was of a little boy, hands in his back pockets, standing at the edge of a lake looking out over the water. The picture and quote served as a gentle, eloquant reminder to me of the importance of paying attention to the children, because by doing so we are paying attention to the future!

Whitney Houston sang this theme in one of her songs a few years back: "I believe that children are our future". How true that is.

Right now, sleeping somewhere under a Mickey Mouse blanket, or riding a bicycle with training wheels, or perhaps making mudpies somewhere in rural America ... is the little boy or little girl who, thirty or forty years from now, will be President of the United States of America. Right now, playing on playgrounds all over the world, are the little boys and little girls who will be the teachers, preachers, politicians, mothers, fathers, scientists, and decision-makers in just a few years. One of them may finally find the cure for cancer, or figure out how to maintain just the right balance between human progress and the preservation of our environment. It will probably be up to them to finally rid the world of the sin of racial bigotry (we sure don't seem to be doing a very good job of it!). They will explore new worlds, make new discoveries, soar to new heights. They will be the leaders of the world!

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Louis Pasteur, Madame Curie, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt -- all these great men and women of historical significance were once little boys and girls, asking endless questions of their mommies and daddies.

• "Why is the sky blue?"
• "Where do rainbows come from?"
• "Do fish get thirsty?"

Those are important questions, not because they have great philosophical significance; but because they come out of the mouths and minds of tender little people who want more than anything else to be important to a big person. Few gifts, so simple to give, will have such a profound impact on our world.

Give the children in your life the gift of YOU ... your time, your love, your attention. Answer the endless questions as if they really were great and philosophical (because, to their little minds, they are!).

"I believe that children are our future.
Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside."

This article is dedicated to all the wonderful teachers of the world, and especially to those who teach our children right here in Waxahachie. These people have made a difference and ARE making a difference in this world by being important to children ... and by making children an important priority in their daily lives.

THANK YOU, TEACHERS! Please don't ever stop reminding us that we can change the world by taking the time to pay attention to the children.

Paul O'Rear is Ashley and Justin's dad.