From the Deep

In the most recent issue of Parenting for High Potential, Dr. Del Siegle, the President for the National Association for Gifted Children, writes about encouraging our children’s creativity through curiosity and engagement. In this article, he makes a comment that stopped me in my tracks. He says “As parents, we have some control over the environment. We not only need to give our children permission to be creative, we need to model curiosity and creativity in our lives” (emphasis mine)*. He further encourages us not only to model asking questions but to also set the example of pursuing understanding and accepting making mistakes along the way.

This speaks exactly to what I hope to encourage in my life coaching practice. I so long for parents of gifted children, moms especially, to find their freedom to create–to tap into their childlikeness and joy, into their own giftedness (because most of them are gifted, and if not, at least they’re extremely intelligent), and to not worry so much about the results as to enjoy the journey of discovery. What better reason to pursue this than to set the example for our children?

So what’s sparking your curiosity these days? What questions are you asking? Where are you willing to go to find the answers?

What about your creativity? How do you most long to express it? When’s the last time you did? Why not go do it? And I mean right now!

We look at our children with wonder. We marvel at their intelligence, precociousness, and creativity. It’s time to recognize our own, not only for our own sakes but for theirs. Parenting these children requires so much energy, but as we engage our own senses of wonder and creativity we gain new vitality for the parenting tasks before us.

So go for it! Let me know what you find out and what you make up!

*Siegle, D. (2008). Promoting Creativity Through Curiosity and Engagement: Wonder Is Not Enough. Parenting for High Potential, September 2008, 3.