By all means....

By all means, I'm no expert on parenting. I can't even claim that I'm really good at it. Shoot, I have my own problems with my hormonal teen, artsy eight year old, and a two-year old who uses 'ignorant' so much I find myself thinking of him when someone says the word. But I do know what I know, and I know that I think a lot parents go about steering their children in the wrong directions.

For example, summertime is approaching and parents are scrambling to find camps for their children. The parents I've encountered are foremost interested in getting their kids out of the home so they can continue working regular hours and get a much needed break from parentdom. No real harm in that, right? Not too much, but there is harm because half of them are sending their kids away to places the children are not interested in attending. The harm comes in if the brainy 10 year-old isn't very interested in horseback riding. Why not send him/her to a science camp or someplace his/her natural (or acquired) talents could be enhanced? It would surely make for a more enriching experience for him/her and money well spent for the parent(s).

Now I'm not saying allow your kids to do what they want to do instead of what's best for them. I'm saying that I don't think it's a bad idea to develop their strengths in areas that truly interest them. My daughter likes boys and drawing. So I'm always buying her drawing paper and pencils and encouraging her to draw the 'features' she likes in boys. Or even abstract portrayals of what she calls love. Of course, we deal with the rest of the boy issue in another way (mental note: buy more tylenol), but I'm encouraging the talent and hopefully, she'll have a masterpiece in someone's museum one day...

Gotta go. The artsy eight year old has tap and ballet in about an hour. It's funny, while I was pregnant with him, he danced in my belly any time music was played. See...

Now if anybody can tell me what to do with a very vocal, beyond active toddler, I'm all ears!

Next time: poetry

Stay peace and foster their strengths

Genesis