Inspired

I've been think a lot lately about how we influence our children to do the things that we enjoy. I think this is great, however, I also think that it limits our children if we do not encourage them to also try the things that we don't pursue. For instance, because I love to write, I encourage my children to do it often. We have days set aside in school to write certain things...paragraphs, biographies, letters, journal entries, etc. Yesterday, I was reading some of the homeschooling blogs that I have in my favorites, and I came across a post by Dana, a homeschooling mom of a 1st grader (http://alexml.blogspot.com/2007/03/tulip-mania-still-life-of-van-huysum.html). I am so impressed with how she, not only encourages her children to draw, but does it herself. She provides things for them to paint and teaches them about different painters and artists. She's discovering what she enjoys creating as well. Coincidentally, while at the library last night, Madison checked out some drawing books. She sat around with the books and paper for a long time last night. Finally, I joined her. I grabbed some paper and pencils and took a chance on what I could do. Well, I enjoyed it. Here's my finished picture.This morning, Madison picked her drawing stuff up again. She's putting all of her drawings into a binder to keep. She inspires me to draw more just because she's so excited about it. Here is her bird picture.Thank you, Dana, for inspiring me to do something new. Madison has often sat outside with her pad and pencils to draw, but I have never wanted to join her. Now, I see why she enjoys it so much!