Parenting 101

Two Stories.

The first.

We went to the park today. After spending the morning in El Paso we were driving home and little M heard Clemens say something about park. She had no idea he was talking about parking a car, or was it an RV... She recognized park, and she wanted PARK! So to keep her little "I only took a 10 minute nap in the car" feelings from being hurt, we went to the park before we got home. While at the park there was another lady there with her 18 month old daughter. While Clemens was running around with little M, trying to get her to go down slides and chase him, this lady kept yelling at her daughter. She scolded her repeatedly for taking her shoes off (which were much too big for her and kept falling off on their own), and yelling at her for trying to climb up the slide instead of going up the stairs. I felt so bad for this little girl. Not that it made her upset, she must have been used to it, and was just enjoying being outside. It made me think that her mom probably doesn't let her color outside the lines either. It also made me ponder how we are creatively stimulated. If you want to try to climb up the slide, go ahead. Your little 18 month old legs probably won't get you very far (little M didn't get very far). If you want to color outside the lines GO AHEAD. I always wanted to be an artist when I was little, but I was so afraid of 'not doing it right'. I allowed myself no creative freedom. I thought if you did art, it had to be perfect. Oh, I am glad I got over that one. It took me a long time, mind you, but I did get over it.

How can we teach our children to be good, clean and obedient, while helping them to be creative, fun and adventurous?

Story 2.

I love it when people help you realize you are doing good. In Las Cruces, we have a program called 'Parents as Teachers', it is a program for parents of 0-3 year olds. An educator comes to your home and helps you know how to best help your child grow emotionally, socially, developmentally, etc. They bring a simple little activity and observe how you interact with your child, how the child interacts, and gives you ideas on what to do so your child can achieve their developmental milestones. They also do screenings for autism, eyesight, hearing, and developmental delays. AND they explain it all to you. Since I didn't take any Early Childhood Development courses in college, I find the help and ideas for activities wonderful!

Our Educator, pictured with little M blow is so sweet. Little M loves her as well. My favorite part of all the knowledge she has given me is in knowing that I am helping my children. She always makes it a point to show you how you are succeeding as a parent. Helping your child(ren) grow and become good people.