Creativity: that which makes people try to deep fry lettuce.
Oh No, I didnt. Someone did though. Someone from Texas of course.
Its that type of creativity that I chase after though. Its what I rely on when facing a defiant four year old or fourteen year old. Its that voice that says What if….? and How about….? Its what I hope to inspire in my staff, my preschoolers, and my own kids.
My kids are extremely creative: Sunshine, my oldest, plays saxophone, draws, writes, and creates short films. Waffles, my daughter, also plays saxophone, draws, writes, and designs her own clothes. Then theres E, my middle.
His creativity is not so obvious, but he has taught me more about creativity than anyone. When he was two, he could already think circles around me. He could take ordinary objects and use them in extraordinary ways. The little plastic table that keeps the pizza delivery box off the pizza? Good for picking your nose. A cardboard playhouse? Stick your head through the chimney and wear it.
E can look at things from every possible angle and find the best way to approach a problem. He strives to be original. When he was 5, his teacher asked the class what they were thankful for. She got the normal answers of food, toys, friends, etc. When she came to him, he didnt have an answer so she finished with the rest of the class and came back. His final answer: my second cousins.
No pat answers for that kid.
As a teenager now, he is incredibly quiet, but the deepest thinker I know. His interests include fencing, archery, and falconry; he has seriously contemplated what it takes to be a shepherd
of sheep!
If you ask him what he thinks, be prepared to be blown away by the answer. When he came home from Summer Camp last year, I asked him what his favorite part was: Reading the book of Revelation down by the creek, he says. Boom.
So, while hes the less obvious choice of all my kids, E gets my vote for Most Likely to Deep Fry Lettuce.