One of the aspects that motivates my educational outlook and choices is—are my sons and daughter more enchanted with the world with our current schooling choice—or are they more disillusioned? Are they being put down at school? Are they being told their drawings, or their books, or their clothes are stupid? Is anything being called stupid?
As a parent, I cannot stand for any honest creative outpouring being called stupid. Because—I believe there is so much room in the world. There are so many types of kids, there are so many types of intelligences. No form of life or honest offering is stupid. Life is robust and capable.
How would I know if things are not okay? If my kids don’t have activities they are excited about. If they are bored.
Let me give a few examples to illustrate enchantment. My son in 3rd grade fills book after book with his writing. He has written lots of “chapter books.” He goes in the car before school and gets to work on his stories. He doesn’t want to talk about them, though he will read them to me. He quietly takes out his book with his pen and writes.
My middle child, my 6th grade son, is a tougher case—and I need to remind myself to let him be himself. We are still trying to figure him out. He had a tougher time the past 2 years in a public arts charter school; it’s hard for him to connect with others. He seems to see the world in black and white, which is hard as it’s such a gray place. All I really know is he does best when he is playing baseball. We have committed to allowing him to play the game year round, and it does bring him joy and a feeling of competency.
My daughter in the 9th grade shows up to church. Instead of talking with everyone, she finds a chair, sits down, and opens her purse with her sketch book and pencil pouch. Yes, I could encourage her to say “Hi” and talk with everyone and be social, but that does not seem to come naturally to her. She seems to be most enchanted drawing. And given her result of beautiful work of art—who am I to get in the way? (See the beautiful featured image above!)
Kids are intuitive. They do what they need to do. They need to be comfortable with who they are. As long as they are not harming themself or others, why don’t we just let them be—themselves!