Professor Robert E. Kelly Is A True Hero

We’ve all been there... It was that moment when you regret the Google calendar invite to meet a client after hours; or you work from home and have a toddler at home too (with or without a nanny); or you’re on a Skype interview with a major news source and millions of people are awaiting your expertise on a shocking new discovery.  Either way, Robert E. Kelly is all of us at some point in our careers, frantically balancing our professionalism with the teetering nonsensical ideal of “there’s nothing to see here” by an interrupting child.
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Yeh I recall those days. I work from home and last year my kindergartener was at home with me.  She lived for the weekly interruption of a video or phone conference meeting. That was her 15 seconds of fame. It had gotten to a point where I thought I was going to get fired.  I wasn’t. My job was very understanding of my work-life reality. #thankful

Waking up to the viral clip of Professor Kelly attempting to “keep it together” while a visibly happy child comes to destroy his media moment, was the most reassuring image of “we are literally all the same”. Humanity still exists in the world and toddlers literally give no F’s. (Mind you, this beautiful moment was also further sprinkled with the bonus material of a baby in a walker and a mom dragging kids frantically out of the background in an attempt to ameliorate the situation…)

Kelly’s home life spilling into our desire to hear the news, was a solid reminder that parents can never separate themselves from being a parent. And good parents realize this. No matter how important you are, your kids see you as the love of their life, as their caregiver, and as their provider.  It’s super clear that the professor’s toddler loves him and just wanted to share that love with the rest of us.

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