Day 7: Let them Create

I like TV. I love staying up far too late to watch Netflix with my hubby (the new "Daredevil" series is pretty awesome). I love sitting with my kids and watching Wild Kratts and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. What I don't want, however, is for the summer to be filled with my kids sitting in front of the television due to boredom.

Entering our first real "summer vacation" now that Selah finished kindergarten, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure, I run my family child care and that would fill up much of my week with them with activities and things to do, but still. Would I have to hold my ground and set stricter technology rules for their personal down time? Would I have to plan additional things for them to do, on top of the activities I already plan for my daily child care program?

Well it's a good thing I've always encouraged and been a proponent of free, open-ended art and play. No activity sheets, no craft instructions. Just materials, tools, and something to inspire them. It hasn't been long, but I am so excited about how my daughter has chosen to spend her own time. Lots and lots of creating.

I have started a collection of recyclable materials. While sometimes my husband and I cringe at how much "junk" we are collecting, I keep it to only what fits in the tub. So long as my daughter has tape (lots of it), she will spend hours creating.

Purses. Treasure chests. Televisions. Books. Car seats with seat belts and steering wheels. Robots and butterflies.

Beats a cable bill and bored kids! It's not too hard to create an art space for your kids. I had a donated plastic floor mat from a local office to protect the floor. I shopped thrift stores for filers for the construction paper and mostly recycled paper (kids usually don't care if their paper is blank on both sides or if one side has an advertisement for lawn service). Some other things I keep handy are glue, empty cups, string (old shoe laces, for example, or bits of yarn), bottle tops, old hair ties that don't work well anymore... Really it's whatever is accessible to you and is safe for kids to use.

So here's to many hours of art and inventiveness and creativity spent this summer. Cheers!

P.S. Yes it can get messy, but I will check on my daughters at different points to remind them to clean along the way, so it's not too hard at the end. Hope that helps!

Day 6: Be a cheerleader.

Day 6. Not even a week and I realize how difficult it is to be consistent in blogging. It didn't take long for me to skip a day (yesterday). And the hardest thing about coming up with things to write about is I'm not exactly sure the direction I want to take my blog. I'm sure I'm not the first blogger to experience this, but I am hoping that one of the things I gain in these 100 days of blogging is a sense of direction.

Well enough about myself. Today I would rather talk about something I'm passionate about, and that is children and the arts.

I recently read a disturbing article (http://fightthenewdrug.org/growing-up-fast-why-12-year-old-girls-are-having-sex-rougher-earlier/) of the realities that children grow up facing in the world today, particularly revolving around pornography and all the ways that it has influenced our children and adolescents in our current times, with technology being so accessible as it is. I spent a great deal of time digesting that article and discussing with my husband my thoughts on the matter.

Truth be told, there is definitely a part of me that wants to lock my doors and shut out that part of the world, but that is no way to live. I got to thinking, how do children grow up with the strength to say no to all these new drugs, addictions, and pressures all around them. 

My short answer is confidence, relationships, and a talent. Many children give into peer pressure because they don't believe in themselves and have low self-esteem. Often, it's because they lack the solid foundation of strong relationships with mothers, fathers, and other family/community members that help them define who they are rather than letting their peers define it for them, for better or for worse (usually for worse).

Finally, many kids grow up feeling like they lack a talent. They're not good at anything. They don't volunteer or get involved anywhere because they don't feel they can do it. All children are artists, until they tell themselves they're not, and give up trying. This usually happens around 3rd or 4th grade. 

While the arts won't solve all the worlds problems, I believe it is a bridge to helping children find the confidence they need to feel like they've got something special, something that's worth more that what the world is offering them, so much that they're willing to turn those things down. All those movies about kids choosing dance or music or art over gangs and drugs and such, these stories are based out of reality.

My husband teaches film to high school students, many coming out of the juvenile justice system. Through his class, he has had countless opportunities to talk with these students about life, and allowing them to tell their stories - often time giving them an opportunity to step back and see it at a distance to evaluate where they are and the choices they need to make to get to where they really want to go.

Parents, families, communities, I beseech you to find the children and teenagers that you have influence over. Build relationships with them. Encourage them. Help them find their talents and foster that. Don't let them give up on it. Remind them of their worth and remind them to let go of anyone or anything that will only bring them down. As my husband told me the other day. We all need a circle of cheerleaders in our lives. 

Be a cheerleader today.