Celebrate Your Artistic Side

     I want to share something.  First, I'm a proud momma, of all of my kids of course, but last night, my 10 year old was one of 2 kids in his school who were recognized for their "excellence" in the arts.  If you knew my Spency, you'd know he loves art - drawing, pottery, etc.  You can't go wrong giving him any kind of art supplies, ever.  He also plays clarinet in the school band, and is singing in the 5th grade chorus (but admittedly, that is not his choice, he "had to", LOL)   Both his band/music teacher, and his art teacher nominated him, and the other child, so it was unanimous.

     I'll be the first to tell you that I don't have a creative bone in my body.  I can't read music or play any instrument.  I love to sing, but I will admit that no one wants to hear that. (It's not a pretty sound.)  I can't draw to save my life.  Let me trace it, and it might come out okay.  But, listening to the key speaker last night, I realized that I do have an artistic side, somewhere.  He thanked us all for nurturing the artistic sides of our children, and believe me, I am all for that.  I will do whatever I can to make sure they can do the things they love, and the things they excel at.  He then explained that he's heard a million times from parents who say they aren't creative or artistic at all (I was thinking it about myself while he was saying it.)  He said we just had never had the chance to explore it, and develop it.  And that is probably right.

     I was in chorus in school, and loved it, but due to circumstances, wasn't able to continue with it.  I also took dance lessons for quite a few years, but similar circumstances put an end to those as well.  I still wish I had been able to continue with those, for many reasons, but it was not to be.  I think I ended up turning into one of those "helicopter" moms for a bit (maybe I still am to some degree.)  I wanted my kids to do everything.  They didn't.  I wasn't as bad as some, but you'd have to talk to the older kids to really know if I drove them crazy with activities or not.  I'm trying to be a little more relaxed with the younger ones.  It also "helps" that our finances don't allow for quite as much as the older kids had.

     In any case, I definitely encourage my children to do what they love (within reason, of course.)  My son had the toughest time just recently, because in 6th grade next year, he could only choose one elective class.  So, he had to decide between band or art.  He was almost panicking at the choice because he likes them both (and I think part of it was that he didn't want to let us down at all either.)  We assured him that we wouldn't be upset with his choice, and that we understood just how much he loved art, so that is what he picked.  He found out last night that it's only one year that he has to choose between them, and he can still do jazz band in the meantime, so he's very relieved with that idea.

     Last night was about him, but it also let me realize that I DO have an artistic side in me somewhere.  I just need to locate it, and do what I encourage my kids to do - let it out, enjoy it, have fun with it.  Now to just find where I tucked it away...