Teach Your Child to Think, Love, and Live by Listening

More often than not, your child will reflect more of what she thinks than what someone tells her. For example, the first book of a series I've been working on in "Hazards of Eris" is complete. In thinking of promotions, shirts, cups, and mouse pads created for a drawing at a presentation of the book, I speak on the phone to my sister about it. Overhearing the conversation, my six-year-old comes up with an idea of her own! A fantastic idea!

Everyone has a different way of raising a child, and some are "rulers" while others tend to "pamper" or "teach." The cold, hard reality is that whichever method you use, it's playing a part in your child's perception, whether she copies what you do or heads in the opposite direction. When you take the time to discuss challenging critical thinking skills with your child, you will undoubtedly get results. Those results may not be visible when you request them, but they will emerge. However, instilling this process is not something that happens overnight. Time and patience need to nurture this skill, but it is definitely worth the dedication, not unlike planting a garden have having to wait for the results.

What is the idea my little girl came up with? Her suggestion (which, by the way, costs a heck of a lot less costly than the baubles I've purchased) is simply to have the drawing be a character. In other words, whoever wins the drawing gets to name and give traits to a character in my next "Hazards of Eris" series book. This way they can make up their own character to be a friend of Eris in her story. Not something a typical first grader is likely to consider in my book.

Never think something is impossible, especially when allowing the input of fresh minds because they don't have the mental blocks adults have when considering reality. Also remember to have open discussions on appropriate subjects because you might just get a surprise!