kids and creativity






I have two children, they're older everyday.
i know everything and nothing about how to parent them.
probably they suspect this, but i'm their only mom option so they tolerate me.
plus i carry candy.
i don't teach them a lot of the right things - correction, the things I THOUGHT i'd teach them. but despite my slackness, our son will somehow hold a door open for me. it's only hit me in the head a few times. and each time, he was mostly sorry. i haven't even attempted salad forks. they're never clean anyway, and i haven't taught them to like salad.
but my kids are creative.
they make things. they've reached the age where, even if they cannot articulate it, i know it fulfills them when they make something that feels very "them."
it is EOG week, so one of them is stressed about knowing the right test answers.
the other kid couldn't care less about the test, but he is always trying to create something at home and gets frustrated when it doesn't turn out just right.
last night, we all sat on the bed and i quoted Elizabeth Gilbert's "Big Magic" to them until they fell asleep out of sheer boredom.
but it seemed right.
i think this world is hard.
i think that if a kid -- correction, any human -- can find a place where they create or do things they enjoy over and over, fine tuning them until their voice gets clearer, they will be healthier their entire lives.
i hope.
sometimes when you do it, it's as much as a relief as when you end a workout....physically, you can feel it. but even more than that, because it feels like physical and emotional health in your heart and soul.
i hope we can all teach them that.
i hope we can all learn it.