Millions of children and parents are reading the high-fantasy stories of hero Harry Potter. The popularity of the Harry Potter books is both disturbing and exciting for us parents. It is disturbing because it shows us how little encouragement our children receive to develop their dreams and vision. It is exciting because Harry makes us stretch and revolutionize our thinking in the way we support our children's inner world of imagination, dreaming, and story telling.

Children live in two worlds. The first world is their inner experience, feelings, pictures and dreams that make up who they are. The second world is their communities of their most influential people – family, especially parents, and friends, teachers, or church members.

The busier children become in their communities, the less time they have to explore the richness of their own inner life. We want out children to be successful, but not at the expense of their imagination and inner dreams. To be healthy and balanced, to remain emotionally and mentally stable in our high tech world, children must be encouraged to dream about how they are going to be and what they want to do.

The most important point for us to remember is that children never lose their visions and pictures of who they are. Indeed, our parental joy is to help children's dreams become real!

Harry Potter Lesson #1: Where are our children's dreams?

The four million children and their parents are reading the Harry Potter adventures of magic and friendship in the wizardry school demonstrate just how mundane and boring life has become for most of us.

When I taught school, children were always asking me, "Why do I have to do this?" "Why do you think I was born?" "What can I do when I grow up?" They were striving to connect with their inner image of themselves

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Today, with our emphasis on outwardly-focused achievement and performance, we rarely give children the time or space to explore their inner world or to discover their dreams for their lives. The children without dreams feel angry and hurt. They seem to go through each day without purpose and direction. They seek their adventure in negative attention-getting behaviors because they have no inner joy. IT DOESN"T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!

We can bring our imaginations alive again through imagery, breathing, music, storytelling and affirmations--all of the techniques discussed in Nurture Your Child's Gift. Somewhere in our stretch for success and good grades, sports experiences and science experiments, children forget their personal vision. But we can help them remember!

Harry Potter Lesson #2: Help children try on new roles.

When Harry Potter goes to school, he gets to don a wizard's robe, a symbol of his new role and esteem.

At Halloween a child tries on different Halloween costumes to get a feel for the different roles. In this process, our children have to imagine themselves as new characters, seeing and sensing how they would fit into situations, and imagine what it might be like to do this or to do that.

In one of those moments, children will latch onto a dream, a picture of themselves that feels great. The question is, how can we help them hold onto it? Somehow, this dream is their connection to the outer world. It is through their comfort in new roles and characters that they will feel their way to success in the outer world.

Harry Potter Lesson #3: Help Children experience success.

Harry Potter gets a break from his misery when he gets to go to Wizard school and, for the first time in his life, finds himself among people similar to himself. As parents, sometimes we have to help our children grow by moving them gently into experiences that challenge them. How we help our children experience life will depend upon their temperament and emotional management skills. We can empower children to move beyond their limitations and experience that Ah Ha! of achievement. Nurture Your Child's Gift addresses responsible empowerment.

Harry Potter Lesson #4: Champion your children.

In wizardry school, Harry Potter has a mysterious champion who isn't known to him, at least not until a later time. Every child needs a champion. Research shows us that children who experience trauma, illness, or abuse CAN recover if they have a mentor or a cheerleader who is patient and listens. How can you champion your child? You can listen, support, challenge, care and be aware.

Harry Potter Lesson #5: Help your child become a hero.

Harry Potter is a hero. He is loyal to his friends. In his misadventures, he always has the intention to do good and to save the day. Children TODAY identify with Harry's intentions – to do well, to solve the problem, to explore and satisfy their curiosity.

In a moment of self-reflection, ask yourself if you really understand your children's intentions. Or, do you only judge the results of their actions?

Harry exhibits kindness, courage, and friendship. Harry is a hero in his story. All children would like to be a hero in their life story. But they need you to be their hero first so they will have a model to emulate. Be a hero for their success, a champion for their dream. Give their vision the breathing space, nurturing, and time to unfold.

What Harry Potter teaches us is that children's imaginations are starving for new insight and adventure. You can satisfy that through nurturing their vision for their lives.

In order to do this, we may have to change the way we think and act towards our children. Of all the techniques in Nurture Your Child's Dream, in all of those moments I struggled to look inside a child's mind and heart, I learned two simple approaches:

• To be aware

• To care

I am asking you to join a parenting revolution in the way we think and act towards our children. Starting with awareness and caring is enough. They provide the fuel to realize dreams!

Copyright © 2001 Caron B. Goode. All rights reserved worldwide.