February 1, 2010

Nurturing Their Strengths.

My boys have VERY different personalities. I love this about them.

If I had to make a guess right now about what their individual interests/strengths might be, it would be this:

Ezra, my math/science/"needs to know EXACTLY how everything works" child.

Example: Last night in the bath he was asking me about water... questions so scientifically baffling that I think I may have blacked out whilst attempting to answer them. I remember answering something about tiny hydrogens and oxygens? To which he asked "how do they stay stuck together and can we take them apart?"

And then I started sucking my thumb.



Myer, my artistic/musical/"somehow even manages to dance & shimmy to TALK RADIO" child.


He drums, strums, hums, dances, and draws with sheer delight written all over his face. From morning till night. He absolutely loves instruments, whereas Ezra used to screech at us angrily until we would put them away. (Actually, come to think of it, he still does that. haha.)



My two older brothers are very different as well. One is an engineer, one is an artist. I think it's such an amazing thing when there is such diversity within a single family. It keeps things interesting and teaches everyone the valuable life skill of appreciating and loving people who aren't exactly like you.

As Myer & Ezra's mother, I want to learn to nurture these boy's strengths, and i think a big part of doing that successfully is

1. Giving them the freedom to explore and discover what those strengths might be on their own.
2. keeping a watchful, mindful eye on what they gravitate towards naturally. (Making lots of mental notes.)
3. being generous with my encouragement and spending time learning about those things they love myself so that I can be a rich resource of knowledge and excitement for my kids.

My parents were really good at this with all three of us, and I hope to pass that along to my own boys as they grow. I know it will bless them and give them confidence, like it gave me when I was a little girl.

4 comments:

Jess Beresh said...

Love it, Emery. How great to have those two extremes in the house; keeps things exciting! Thanks for making me think about things like this.
Your boys are so precious; i wanna bite their cheeks (lovingly, of course).

PaisleyJade said...

I am always amazed at how different our kids are too - one is a really scientific kid who asks questions I've never even bothered to think about... a couple are artistic - I love how God made everyone so different!

Chandra said...

Good for you for identifying 'their' strengths and not forcing on them yours. Just because a mom myself and while I know what I love... and what I want him to love, I must let him choose his own path! Great book, Your Child's Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them by Jenifer Fox.

MoMar said...

I dance to talk radio ! Must be where Myer picked that up ... hee hee