Fishing in a Puddle of Tears

This is a drawing by Zach. At the bottom is a penguin, fishing in a puddle of tears. That is either incredibly optimistic or ruthlessly cruel. I would be pretty mad if I was crying and someone was fishing in my tears. But maybe I’m over analyzing this thing. It’s 2 penguins at a freakin’ pizza party. Whatever the case, I love his imagination.

Both Zach and Abby are creative geniuses. Your little ones probably are too. In a study I saw on Linda Naiman‘s website, when 5 year olds were tested by a NASA researcher on the topic of creativity, 98% of the kids qualified as creative geniuses. So it’s a pretty safe bet that we can brag brag brag.  We’ve got scientific proof to back it up.

There was a downside to the study though. Those same kids were brought back and tested at age 10 and only 30% registered as creative geniuses. At 15, it was 12%. And a random sampling of adults aged 30 and over showed a lousy 2% creative brilliance. The conclusion was that creativity is unlearned. As we age, we stop using it and it disappears.

For me, my job as a parent is to keep that seepage to a minimum. Of course there are lessons to guide our kids through and wisdom for them to learn. But more importantly, I want to keep them from sprouting leaks. They already have abilities and wisdom that are nothing short of magic. Yes, they may still have to learn how to offer compassion to crying penguins at pizza parties. But they already know how to find joy and opportunity in any situation.