One day while the kids were on break, Ben wanted to make some muffins for breakfast. When he was finished, I asked him if he was also going to make the napkins. He got busy right away, creating for each family member a design to go with their birth month: a sunshine for Bethany (or perhaps a ladybug, in the end), a shamrock for dad, a flower for mom, and a pencil for his early September day. He had so much fun.
Bethany decided she needed a turn too, so she got busy with a shamrock of her own.
It makes me wonder. Mine are not the kids whose artwork you can pick out a mile away on the classroom wall. In fact, there have only been a couple of times their pieces have been chosen for the art teacher's display. And yet, it never even crossed their minds to think they couldn't cut a shape out of a paper towel.
There are other things that do intimidate them, however. There are things that intimidate all of us. Why is that? Why are we afraid we won't measure up in some areas? Why does it not matter in other areas? Is there something we could do to help ourselves or our kids approach our world unintimidated?
5 comments:
We talked about this very thing but with adults this week at my quilt retreat! We have such wonderful quilters in my guild that sometimes I don't want them to look at my work - it's definitely not comparable to theirs. But you see, that's the problem - the comparing. My work is my work, not theirs. And mine is for me, to pleasure me and not them. As an adult I've learned to deal with that but a child has difficulty doing it. blessings, marlene
Thought provoking! I think for kids it´s so important to give them positive reinforcement. This has helped my girls so much. But also, what you were doing. Letting them make their own thing. That was harder for me, than for them. Often I wanted to do "it" for them.
Pier pressure intimidates them too.
To find a balance between letting them explore their boundaries and not scaring them into being intimidated is a truly tough job....
My kids seemed to have a lot more confidence than I ever did. They are fearless. Guess they must have been encouraged a little bit!
Marlene, I like your point about comparing. And Betty, I like your point about giving them some freedom and not passing on our own fears. It's a constant challenge. And Marrdy, it sounds like a challenge you've handled well!
Your kids' creativity...especially in the kitchen...continues to amaze me. What a lot of fun!
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