Tips for Raising a Creative Child

It's always nice to receive a special home-made gift or picture from your child, but what do you do with all these creations? My oldest child is always creating and crafting something. Usually it's just with a piece of blank computer paper and some tape. Empty Kleenex boxes become a home for a stuffed animal or a hat for her little brother. Sometimes I find myself hiding the empty boxes or cardboard rolls from toilet paper, so Jenna doesn't see they're available to use. Eventually these creations start to pile up and I just don't know what to do with them. I hate having clutter around and I would really just love to throw them in the burn barrel, but that would hurt her feelings.

An example of what we have around the house at any given time: 1. Mother's Day tissue paper flower; 2. Bulldozer (too big to be in the house);
3. Littlest Pet Shop house; 4. Doctor kit; 5. Bed for a stuffed animal; 6. A shoe box filled with Tim Horton's lid creations; 7. & 8. My Mother's Day gift - a stationary set; 9. School project - diorama of man vs. nature; 10. Bug homes made from tractor light boxes; 11. Robot made at March Break camp;
12. Kites

Some of my tips for dealing with a child
who likes to create a little too much:

1. Ask first:

Mom or dad, grandma or grandpa, babysitter or caregiver should be the first to ok a new project. Keep supplies out of reach and out of sight. Our craft supplies are locked in a cabinet. Set limits: teach your child that he or she shouldn't start a new project if there isn't time to finish it or if there is already another one on the go. Always finish what you start. For the longest time, Jenna would have a pile of papers with one sticker or one crayon mark and notebooks upon notebooks only half-filled. She insisted we had to keep them all.

2. Waste not want not:

As good as it is to recycle unused items to create something with, if you have to use new items for the creation, then it doesn't always make sense to make it. Sometimes Jenna will have gone through an entire roll of tape for one creation before I can stop her. She understands the concept of reusing and recycling, but needs reminded of the reducing aspect.

3. You can't keep it all: 

If you have to start limiting what creations (and especially school projects) you need to keep, I always do a 3:1 ratio. Out of three things, I keep only one. Usually it's the one thing I know she worked hard on, or did the best job at colouring it, etc. At the end of the school year I lay it all out in front of me and do the same again. Then you're left with a manageable amount to put away in storage. For any larger projects you don't have room to keep, you could take a picture of and then dispose of properly. Keep it all labelled by age/grade if you want. Your child may appreciate this in the future, or they may wonder why you kept all that "stuff." My mom kept a small bin of my school papers, and so far in the almost 9 years of my oldest child's life, I've kept a fairly large bin of papers. I might have some work ahead of me.

4. Your supplies:

Buying crafts in kits and limiting your supply stash is a good way to keep your child from getting overwhelmed by all the items they can use. The dollar store is a great place to find reasonably priced craft kits. Then your child can create away with only what comes in the package. You don't really need a pack of construction paper plus scrapbook paper or glitter crayons and regular crayons. One or the other is probably more than enough. I'm all for options, but if it means more clean-up afterward, then less is more. Keep supplies organized so you can see what you have or need or need to get rid of. If you already have a supply problem, it's a good idea to set some things aside to use down the road, or even donate to a daycare or childhood centre. We somehow managed to collect a plastic shopping bag full of toilet paper rolls, so I donated them to a local daycare centre.

Following some of these tips should help you to make, and hold on to, special memories with your creative child (or at the least make the clean-up a little easier when it's all said and done).

Where Have I Been?

So WHERE have I been? That's an excellent question. And I've been here, busy with mommy, wife and farmer-"ish" things.

In October I turned 30 and my husband and I took our first long distance trip together - to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins (who we hardly ever see because flying within Canada is unbelievably expensive). I've been on an airplane before, but not my husband. That part was easy. Navigating the airport and getting to the terminal we were supposed to be at was not. But we made it there and back safe and sound and had a great time exploring "Toon Town." Thanks to our awesome family for trading kids around and baby sitting!

The Prairies

Figure skating lessons started up again shortly after that for Jenna. She's improved so much since starting four years ago.

Jacob and I finished up music class in November and a took a break over the winter from it. We just started a new spring semester a few weeks ago. Even after being away from class over the winter, Jacob picked things up again very quickly.

Also in November, Jacob started a new block of speech therapy. He has made such amazing leaps and bounds with his speech. Communicating with him now is 100 times better. Tantrums are to a minimum, and he's more patient when trying to explain or ask me something. Over this past March break we got him potty trained! It took a few weeks but we think he's got a good handle on it.

December and January was filled with Christmas celebrations with our families. Throughout the winter I did a lot of downhill skiing on Jacob's daycare days. We're so lucky we live close to a great resort. And illnesses were luckily kept to a minimum so I was able to ski about 8 times over the season.

Christmas Day 2015 - Dad and Jacob went for a ride

Any X-Files fan was excited in January when Season 10 was broadcast. Although only 6 episodes were aired, it was great to see my favourite characters back on TV. Over the next few months, before the kids got up and after they went to bed, I watched the entire series from season 1 to 9 on DVD. There was quite a few I had never seen and It was exciting to watch my favourite episodes again.

In February and March, the routine was fairly normal. I kept busy billing out snow removal invoices. Buses were cancelled off and on over February and March. It seemed like only on the days Jacob had to have speech therapy. And if the buses get cancelled, then so does his speech therapy. And we missed his last session 5 times over those two months because of weather. It was actually quite crazy if you think about it - buses were cancelled due to bad weather every Wednesday for about a month and a half! And then our area had a major ice storm hit the end of March. We lost power off and on for a few days, but for no longer than 5 hours at a time. That's incredible for a family that lives in a rural area. We had neighbours without power for 3-4 days, and even homes within town for much longer than that. It was very touching to hear stories of neighbours helping neighbours, and even strangers helping strangers in their times of need. We were also lucky we didn't lose many trees from the heavy ice but we heard about and saw lots of damage to homes and property. The clean-up is still ongoing.

The ice on everything made for some beautiful scenery the days following the storm

Near the beginning of March I was lucky enough to experience pneumonia. What a horrible week I had - unable to get off the couch or sleep or eat well. By the Thursday I had had enough and the doctor put me on some strong antibiotics. I got well enough in time for March break thank goodness. March break came, and the weather was off and on, but Jenna had an amazing time at a week-long outdoor adventure camp. She made friends, created things, and got muddy. We finished off the break with a trip to Ripley's Aquarium in downtown Toronto and went with Jonathan's step-sister. It really is a neat place with lots to see and learn!

....but she had fun!

Ripley's Aquarium, Toronto

And here we are now, nearing the end of April. I have been busy the last two weeks with the wonderful world of accounting. Over the last 10 years, I have been doing our book keeping all by hand and our accountant recommended we switch over to a computer program. It's been a learning curve, but I think I'm getting it now. It should make things a lot easier for everyone now.

Our seasonal hired help has come back now and they have started working ground and planting a few days ago. Seeding time will be our busy season until harvest and we're hoping the weather cooperates at both times,

So that's it, that's what's been going on here. Warmer weather is here to stay, and I can't wait to get out in the garden, planting flowers and watching things grow.

This awesome weather is here to stay!