For those of you that read my blog, you know my daughter Rachel is my garden tour buddy. She has quite a wonderment about flowers and I hope that someday she will decide to get dirty with me out in the garden instead of just saving all of the slugs from total annihilation in my yard.

However, I have not introduced you to my son Mitchell. He has been, and continues to be my all time hero. His heart is bigger than any that I have ever known. He will do marvelous things in this world I think. I am not sure what yet, but there is definitely something big for him on the horizon.

Now, for those of you that do not know me very well, I have one wicked back. Twenty years of manual labor has made me pretty gimpy and I have postponed major back surgery for years. Why? Well, simply because I am chicken. Something about my spine turning to metal makes me a little uncomfortable, and again, chicken. I am hopeful that I can continue to strengthen my body, shape up the old bones back to a viable state and conquer the onslaught of old age, but in the meantime I have my boy to rely on.

Mitchman saves my hide day in and day out. I am an incredibly stubborn girl. Anyone who knows me will say I am wildly tenacious at the very least. I continually put myself in places and positions I have no business being part of. Mitchell is always saving me from myself and has actually mastered the art of telling his obstinate mother she is whacked out of her mind and to move over so he can do the heavy work. Quite the undertaking I assure you.

Mitch is a delight to work with and puts in a days work comparable to any employee I have ever had. That young man never shirks a task and it does not matter if it is the dishes or the garbage, he generally will have a smile and a hug for me at some point during the deed.

For the past 4 years Mitchell has helped me build my booths for our annual trade show. He has done everything from spray painting flooring, happy guys and wheelbarrows to planting STEPABLES so tight to enable thousands of people to walk on them over a 3 day period. We are usually the first people in the show to set up and the last to leave. It is tremendously grueling work.

So, I thought this year would be really cool to give him the opportunity to see what it was like to get the real scoop on what people actually think about STEPABLES–rather than just building an amazing display and never hearing the kudos that go along with it.

I have to tell you that was an incredibly cool moment for me. It was not the feeling of passing of the torch off to the next generation or anything like that. It was just a sense of watching my son coming into manhood and being so very proud of whom he has become. Mitchell has such a capacity to learn. We have always called him the Renaissance man because he can learn anything. He gets his hands into all kinds of things no one would expect and then masters them completely. From his ability to melt your heart with the way he plays his viola, to the cool vibes he gives off when he is jammin on his guitar, this young man does it all.

What is fun is that he really gets the marketing aspect of my business. He understands at 15 what most business owners never master in a lifetime. He truly amazes me.

So, it was so much fun watching him react one on one with people. He had never really heard the oou and ahhh from an actual customer. He had never heard the giggles and the statements like “You can not really walk on these can you!??” He had never seen them as I have, spontaneously strip off their shoes and socks to run through the plants. I just think it was cool that he got to see “the experience” that is STEPABLES.

I think that he really got something out of the event. I hope he was able to feel that personal satisfaction that comes from making a product that you can be proud of. Manual labor is very satisfying work. I have done it my whole life. However, having a great conversation with someone about what you made/created is the real treat in life. You know you have built something amazing, but when you hear it from someone else, that it was indeed an excellent effort and a job well done, well then, that just makes it worth the effort. That is what any person really wants to hear at the end of the day I think.

Well Mitch…Great job! Well done. You are undoubtedly the hardest worker I have ever met and your efforts, along with your smile never go unnoticed. You can have a job in my company any day. You have certainly earned it!

Okay everyone, go get dirty out there, and try ripping your kids off the video games long enough to share a moment in the dirt with them. You may find you have more in common than you thought!

Fran

www.stepables.com