“Just make a mark,” Tammy said, as she boldly drew a messy line on her paper.I had been the kind of girl who coloured between the lines. I wasn’t comfortable with things that were uncomfortable. Things I didn’t know how to do. Things that were messy. Yet something had been shifting and I knew there…
“Daddy, I am bored,” my six-year-old son comes into my home office complaining. I have a feeling of déjà vu. I have heard this before. In fact all my children around this age have shown up with the very same expression: “Daddy, I am bored.” I used to think that they lacked for ideas of…
“There’s nothing to do! I’m bored!” is the battle-cry of children everywhere who are on summer vacation. Yet after weeks of counting the days for school to end, children are at a loss for what to do with their newly found freedom. When I asked a number of children what they were looking forward to…
We all want to rejoice when our child does something wonderful or achieves a goal. It is a natural part of being a proud parent. We celebrate their endeavors and want to acknowledge them. But when acknowledgment and recognition turn into praise in hopes they will continue to raise the bar, or if we recognize…
Wonder implies the desire to learn (Aristotle) My husband loves all things hockey so it was natural when we had children that he wanted to share his passions with them. At age 4 my daughter dressed in her pink Canucks hockey jersey happily accompanied him to a hockey game. He would tell me she seemed…
“All work and no play make Jack a very dull boy” What is the role of play in children’s lives and why would we want to make room for it? Play is often seen as free time that is spent without care and work. They formed some of my happiest memories as a child and…