Camp Creek Press

A question from Michelle at Mama Chronicles:

Have you ever had trouble with [your children] feeling inferior to you when you draw alongside them?

I have had a difficult time writing a succinct response to your excellent question.

This is my third attempt to answer without producing a novella.

Briefly...

Draw with your children, and share both your skill and your enthusiasm. Just as it's perfectly fine to learn alongside your children, it's also perfectly fine to share your talents with them. It's no different than reading, cooking, woodworking, gardening — do the things you love to do with your kids. What better gift could you give them?

You may not be more skilled than your children (I'm not!) — that's okay, too! Learn alongside them, and let them share your enthusiasm and your interest. You are modeling having a great attitude about tackling something challenging. You are modeling that not everything worth doing comes easily.

We do lots of things better than our children — drive, for instance. ;^) They respect our skills and they want to be like us. With that power comes great responsibility. (Quoting Spiderman!)

Now, tomorrow I'll post about some things you can say to your child if they start comparing their work to others or disparaging their own abilities. And this post isn't a mile long, so — whew!