My two nephews are directly opposite in their interests - one all arts and science, the other a natural athlete. While the cerebral one enjoys ice skating now, it took a lot of coaxing by his crazy Auntie Al (me) to get him on the ice and feeling confident enough to let go of the edge of the rink wall. He'd rather mimic his architect father and build things than get physical. The other, however, by age 2, exhibited an instinctive knowledge of what sports equipment went together and would assemble baseball or cycling gear in the middle of the toy store. He recently participated in a cycling event (he'll be 4 this week) and told his mom he was going to win (and he did).
My boys are anomalies, I guess. They're both athletic and artistic. Perhaps they get that from me, because, although I'm not particularly talented athletically, I am a distance runner, and I'm a professional in a field that demands both artistic talent and technical skill. My daughter is a lot like her dad and spends most of her free time on her computer.
Whether or not I, as a parent, adhered to a structure of my children's making, I can't really say for certain. There were certain things I thought would be good for them to pursue, which they did, and decisions I allowed them to make for themselves. I think the most important thing a parent can do is express interest in what the child demonstrates interest in and try to support pursuit of that interest, if possible (we're assuming it's a healthy interest). If the kid wants to try karate, so be it. The kid might decide he doesn't like feeling like a punching bag and drop it for a gentler interest.
But, I don't think there's anything disciplined about imagination, only disciplined execution. Sometimes, discipline "kills" imagination. JMHO
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My two nephews are directly opposite in their interests - one all arts and science, the other a natural athlete. While the cerebral one enjoys ice skating now, it took a lot of coaxing by his crazy Auntie Al (me) to get him on the ice and feeling confident enough to let go of the edge of the rink wall. He'd rather mimic his architect father and build things than get physical. The other, however, by age 2, exhibited an instinctive knowledge of what sports equipment went together and would assemble baseball or cycling gear in the middle of the toy store. He recently participated in a cycling event (he'll be 4 this week) and told his mom he was going to win (and he did).
My boys are anomalies, I guess. They're both athletic and artistic. Perhaps they get that from me, because, although I'm not particularly talented athletically, I am a distance runner, and I'm a professional in a field that demands both artistic talent and technical skill. My daughter is a lot like her dad and spends most of her free time on her computer.
Whether or not I, as a parent, adhered to a structure of my children's making, I can't really say for certain. There were certain things I thought would be good for them to pursue, which they did, and decisions I allowed them to make for themselves. I think the most important thing a parent can do is express interest in what the child demonstrates interest in and try to support pursuit of that interest, if possible (we're assuming it's a healthy interest). If the kid wants to try karate, so be it. The kid might decide he doesn't like feeling like a punching bag and drop it for a gentler interest.
But, I don't think there's anything disciplined about imagination, only disciplined execution. Sometimes, discipline "kills" imagination. JMHO
March 10, 2008 - 5:23pmThis Comment
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