My husband, my eight-year-old son, and I were having
lunch one day and when there was a lull in the conversation, my son
looked up at us and, completely out of the blue says, “Do people get mad
because they can’t see their foreheads?” We both stopped eating and gave
him a blank look.
I said, “What?”
My husband said, “Paul, do you get mad because you can’t see your
forehead?”
Paul said, “No. It was just something I was thinking about,” and he went
on eating his lunch like this was a normal, everyday conversation.
What I love about this story is it shows how much creativity a child
has. Who ever would have thought about trying to look at their
foreheads? Kids can say the darndest things, but I’m telling you that
those who continue to think creatively are going to be the most
successful. And those of us who support them are going to be right
beside them.
We make it a point to encourage our kids to think creatively as much as
possible. My husband is an engineer and an inventor, so he works with
them to develop the right side of their brain. I am intuitive and a
writer, so I work with them to develop the left side of their brain.
Hopefully, our kids will become fluent in using both sides of their
brain as they grow older.
Our kids are eight- and ten-years-old. Here are a few examples of what
we do to work with their brain development (as well as their personal
development):
· My husband will ask them to calculate how old they are in seconds
(minutes, hours, days, etc). The three of them walk through the process
together and come up with an answer in about 15 minutes.
· He’ll ask them, “Where and how do you think this product is made?”
That product could be anything from a can of soda to a household product
to a toy. It also creates some great discussion on how it can be
improved.
· At night, I will read to them from the English version of the “Tao Te
Ching” (Eastern philosophy, spiritual) and then we will discuss it. For
instance, we discussed this line: “The Master (of the Tao) observes the
world but trusts his inner vision.” They understood it more than I
thought they would.
· I teach the children to meditate. It has been very helpful in helping
them to find peace when they need it, but also to find answers to
questions that are hard to answer.
Since we do this every day, these are just a few exercises we have our
children do. Not only are we working on skill development, but we are
also spending time together having meaningful conversation. (We also
spend lots of time having silly conversation.) In the meantime, we are
still trying to figure out how many people get mad because they can’t
see their foreheads.
* * *
By Wendi Moore-Buysse
Wendi Moore-Buysse works with business professionals who want to learn
how to market to women. She coaches, teaches, and consults with women
who want to develop intuition and who want to develop leadership skills.
Her books from the Life’s Little Cheat Sheets™ Series are available
through her website. Visit
http://www.wendimoore.com to read her Life's Little Cheat Sheets
blog.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendi_Moore-Buysse
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