As a person who has HAD to bring their baby stroller to a fall workshop, I feel that as long as the child is well behaved they can stay. My husband is VERY supportive but is also a farmer. Meeting me at 4:00 sharp to pick up Junior is harder when you are checking cattle or optimizing the one dry day in the Spring to run the planter. As far as I know, my fellow Ag teachers have been very nice and totally supportive. They like to play with my kid and their wives offer to babysit. Most of them have been in my shoes and understand that there isn't enough babysitters in the world to match the AG / FFA activities we have to attend. The worst thing about being a mother is how resentful I get about missing time with my child and missing time to work at school (a vicious circle). I used to be able to stay at school until way past dark working on lessons or training a contest team. Now, I have to pick up Junior from the sitters by 5pm and on home we go. I live 20 miles away so running home and running back is tough on the fuel bill. I believe female ag teachers feel that they have to live up to a higher standard than regular high school teachers. I came back to work 4 weeks after my son's birth. What substitute is going to be able to teach FFA History and Shop Safety and Greenhouse Management? Our county fair was around the corner and I had to get the judging arranged and float built and servers for the dinner. Substitutes don't do that. I left my mere months old son for a week to attend National FFA Convention and drug him to Barnwarming because my husband was trying to get the corn out of the field. I have friends who take their FULL 8 weeks and then some when they had a baby and never batted an eye at all the lesson plans they wrote. That would be nice. My final comment will be, give these Moms and Dads a break. If their child is not screaming bloody murder, then what are they bothering? I am sure it would be easier on them to not have their child there, but sometimes it just does not work out.

The second Sunday of June 19 years ago, I loaded up chapter officers and we traveled the 300 miles to our Area FFA Leadership Conference. My wife was pregnant with our first child and her doctor had assured us the previous Friday there was no way she was having this baby in the next two weeks. You can guess what happened. She went into labor on Sunday evening and by the time the security guard for the conference located me the next morning, we had a brand new son! I knew my place was back home with my wife and baby, but what to do with six chapter officers who had paid for the leadership conference? At least four of my teaching colleagues from neighboring schools offered to supervise my students and to get them back home four days later so that I could get to the hospital to bring my wife and new son home. I believe the men and women in our profession have long recognized the impotance and value of family.

Just five weeks later, we once again loaded up four of the chapter officers plus my wife plus our son to drive across the state from El Paso to Houston to attend the State FFA Convention. Even as a brand-new Mom, my wife was willing to serve as my female chaperone for the trip. Yes, there was a baby stroller involved! There were also lots of other male and female teachers, as well as teacher spouses (both male and female) willing to hold the baby and/or push him around the convention hall in that stroller so his Mom and Dad could take in the convention and take care of the students for which they were responsible. Both of us were confident and comfortable we could trust our friends and colleagues in the ag teaching profession to care for our newborn. I'm sure the fact that he was wearing a special-made outfit that was black on the bottom and blue on top, with an old official front-jacket emblem (remember when it had the words "Vocational Agriculture") sewn on the back had nothing to do with their willingness. Of course, all the attention he got sure made him spoiled to being held... I have seen lots of teacher's kids at camps, conventions and even summer conferences in the ensuing years and it nearly always brings back memories of a set of crazy parents who didn't know any better than to take their five-week-old son to a state FFA convention.

That same son, when he was four, attended his first National Convention with me. Because of my school's rules about not letting a student attend an event without a school chaperone, I had to go early with the National Chorus member. So the son and I got to do a great deal of sightseeing around the Kansas City area. Of course, we also spent a lot of time at the back of the rehearsal room listening to the Chorus prior to the start of the Convention. With a jacket pocket full of Thomas the Tank Engine and friends, he had a great time on the plane ride, at the convention sessions, and getting to go "backstage" with the Chorus members.

Through the years, with three kids, some of our most cherished family memories are of family "vacations" that were centered around summer ag teacher inservice or state FFA convention. In Texas, it was easy to plan to go a few days early or stay over a few days to take in the zoos, the museums, the amusement parks or whatever was close. I've also witnessed through my 24 years involved in Ag Education that as a profession we have become more family friendly. Many states now include some family activities during summer inservice. Some include activities for spouses and children while the teachers are attending meetings and earning licensure renewal credits. Some NAAE state affiliates incorporate their award ceremonies into "family nights". In planning locations, hotel space and meeting space are still big considerations, but family-oriented activities are also considered.

I believe those are fairly recent changes. As the son of a career ag teacher, I can remember two times ever that our family attended an AgEd/FFA event with my Dad. I can remember him being gone to camps, conventions and conferences, but most of the time we were at home taking care of livestock, garden, etc. I also remember more emergencies seemed to happen while he was gone, but that's another story...

So, are baby strollers really welcome at inservice?? My own experiences cause me to answer Yes! Do we, as a profession, need to be more welcoming of those young mothers and fathers who, for whatever reason, bring their youngster(s) into the inservice meetings? Again, yes! Can we continue to improve the family-friendliness of the out-of-town camps, conventions, and conferences we expect and require of teachers? We must if we expect to keep those dynamic individuals with strong family values in the profession.

Nina also asks whether "families are a welcomed diversion or an intrusion in professional development?" I hope neither. I believe our profession looks on children and spouses as a welcomed inclusion!

Oh, and that baby who first attended a state convention at the age of five weeks? He is currently serving as a State FFA Officer in Montana. More importantly, he is pursuing a degree in Agricultural Education because he believes he sees an opportunity to make an impact without sacrificing his values... I hope, for his sake and the sake of all the others out there planning to become Agricultural Educators, he is right!