The other day I found myself throwing her things out- old bottle caps, broken sea shells, bits of colored tape and tiny mismatched beads that all were swimming in the rancid juice of a moldy deflated orange from our backyard tree. Later, when I had a few moments, I sat down and resumed reading Your Child's Strengths by Jenifer Fox sent to me courtesy of the Parent Bloggers Network. There on page 76 was my light bulb moment "Amelia's strength is noticing and collecting things that others may discard as useless"
My mind did not immediately jump to my daughter, no instead it jumped to me.I did that! I still do that on occasion when I just can't stop myself. Hey wait I use those things in my art projects!! It's not all useless, it's a strength. Tessa does this too! The very thing about her that drives me completely batty is a trait that she and I share and not only is it something that we share, it's something that I have turned into a useful skill. My child's strengths are right there before my eyes and yet, despite my successfully utilizing the same skills, I have been discouraging her from doing the same. *smacks self in the forehead* With that revelation, I pushed on, determined to uncover the secrets to helping her and my other children live up to their potentials.
The book outlines a plan for discovering and nurturing your child's strengths. It starts with simple observation and encouraging self introspection. The next goal is to stimulate their imaginations by encouraging play but not hovering or over-directing their play. Creating positive memories though tradition and rituals and documenting them through written accounts and photographs also plays an important part. One of the biggest elements, and the one I need to work most on, is modeling a positive outlook and approach to life- find and nurture your strengths and in turn inspire them to do the same.
The book is sensible, thorough, and do able. What really makes me nuts is that I was already following this type of approach with my autistic daughter, anticipating that school would be hard for her, but was neglecting doing the very same thing for my other children and even myself! I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book. When you use it as a tool to help shape your child's future, you will have a totally different perspective on their habits and hobbies that sometimes may just make you nuts.
