Creativity

When I drive around without children in the car I always listen to different talk radio stations - NPR, local news or Oprah Radio. A favorite is a medical talk show with the physician Dr. Oz. He brings interesting, smart guests on his show that are all experts in their fields. I was listening yesterday to a man talk about talent in children and the people that teach them. He was talking about the amount of time devoted to practicing and the actual myelin formation on those direct nerve pathways. It turns out he was Daniel Coyle, an author that wrote The Talent Code. A friend handed this book to me to read a couple months ago knowing I'd be interested in some of the neurophysiological explanations as well as practical parenting applications regarding helping children succeed.

Anyway, in the radio show he answered a question from the host - wondering about children that don't really have one passion, and often think that playing video games is what they are best at doing! I liked his answer: He said that it then becomes the job of the parents to,

bias the culture of your family towards creation, not distraction.

I love this phrase and concept. I feel like our family goes thru phases depending on my ability to facilitate this creative environment. Me being sick is directly correlated to the amount of wasted TV and video game time. I am loving having everyone back at school. They are coming home with project ideas they want to try, art creations they want to make, games to play in the back yard and wanting to do it together. I am able to have a bit of a break while they are at school to be able to help all this happen as they walk in the door. I look forward to the end of this pregnancy so that I will have the health and energy to enter the holiday season filled with endless projects that help these little brains and spirits grow.