Collector of Refrigerator Art
Thank you to Allen Levi, musician who sings “Refrigerator Art.” Highly recommend all his music!
I am a AVID collector of refrigerator art! Children only need paper, something to draw/color/paint with, maybe some glue and scrap paper, to create a piece of art that is worth more than any fine art piece I could ever buy! I truly believe “beauty is in the sight of the beholder!” (another song lyric)
As a Jesus follower, I am called to love and respect every stage of human life, and I do. However, if you gave me a “test” to determine who in a crowd of people I would gravitate too, it would definitely be children and the elderly. They both have similarities and they also both gravitate towards each other, and most of the time, they value the basic needs.
Children that I have had the privilege of keeping, being apart of their lives, watching them grow, have taught me some of the most valuable life lessons! And I would like to share a few with you:
- If you can get down on their level. Connection, conversations, play, bonding, nurturing, caring, all these things start and progress when you choose to get on their level and enter their world!
- Bedtime is serious business to a child, and it should be to us too! I learned to ALWAYS ask parents, in front of the children, about every families bedtime order, and if needed, have them write it down. 😊
- The things you say, whether “in secret” or not, they have super-hearing! Even the phrases and the tones you use, begin to be mirrored back to you! Example: I kept a little boy in my home, from a few months old until around 2 years old. I never knew I said, “Let’s see,” so much, until he started talking! Everything was followed by “Let’s see!” 😂 Babies brains are to be formed and molded. They are not pre-loaded with information needed for life. The family, culture, environment that we provide them will determine their learned behaviors, their mindsets, their understandings of all things they come to know and feel. A lot of their information and understanding is involuntarily passed down from generation to generation. It’s important to stop and ask ourselves, what kind of community am I contributing to the children around me?
- The families who were honest and up front about any health challenges or diagnosis were greatly appreciated! I could clearly focus on enjoying getting to know the child, and not have to wonder why is this (fill in the blank) happening? I talking from physical ailments, like nausea to shortness of breath, to behavioral. And the medical life skills, that I learned from these families, I am forever grateful for!
- Which leads me to, if you get Miss Anna as your babysitter, you get boundaries set. Nothing crazy, but I learned quickly if you don’t let children know their limits and what you expect of them, they are left to assume and test you! And when they are left to assume and test you, they don’t feel safe.
- Repetition is a fun and sometimes hard tool that works. It can be very fun for learning new things, like letters, numbers, reading, and memorizing, etc. It can also be hard when it comes to teaching what’s ok and what’s not. Placing a child in a calm down spot after doing it several times, and they are crying still, it will make you want to break so bad! I think the key question we have to ask ourselves in these moments, is this: Am I helping raise this child to be enabled to do whatever they want? or Am I helping raise this child to become a well-equipped adult?
- You have to take life a day at a time. Somedays are for getting messy. Somedays are for running through the sprinkler. Somedays are for remembering. Somedays are for teaching. Somedays they just need you close by. Somedays are for old TV Show marathons. Somedays are full of laughter. Somedays we just need to cry. Somedays need to be “we don’t have to go anywhere” days. Somedays are for wiping snotty noses. Somedays need to be yes days. No matter what everyday, they need to know they matter and they are of great value to somebody!
- Everyone should be celebrated! I was sitting at the dinner table with one family I kept on a weekly basis, and the topic of my birthday came up. The oldest child, who at the time was around 5 years old, said to me, “Are you going to have a party?” To which I responded, “No, unfortunately adults don’t really have parties every year.” Her response, “That’s weird. You should have one anyway!” And I did! 😊 This past week, I sat down with my niece and nephew to ask them a few “end of the year” questions. One of the questions was, “What person at school made the biggest impact on you this year? What impact did this person have?” My niece immediately named her bus driver that takes her in-between, the lower and middle school. Why? “Because everyday he asks me, How my day is going.” Simple, yet she is known, seen, and heard. Pretty cool! Just a reminder that we as adults get in our heads all too often, when sometimes the person beside you just needs to know you see them.
- Nobody. No matter their age. Really wants to stop doing what they’re doing to go to the bathroom, whether its something fun or watching something or whatever! But we all must! There really are no ifs, ands, or butts!!! 😂
- They definitely don’t stay little! Most of them are way taller than me now, but I am honored to have watched so many children that I have kept grow and become amazing young adults! And the wonderful thing is they are not done yet!
There are so many more lessons, children are fabulous teachers! My theory on this is, that they are still growing and learning, they have so much to teach, and we need to listen! Your brain doesn’t fully develop until around the age of 21. Your core years of really soaking in information about the world around you and that molding you happens within the first five years. That sounds like a long time, but five years is not long at all! Feelings of bonding, nurturing, safety, fight or flight kicks in, so many of our core beliefs about the world are planted in us.
We are losing children. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually.
So I will leave you with a few questions that I am also asking myself…
Children: Crucial and Critical Question: How do I involuntarily categorize “children”? Anyone under 18 years old? Anyone under 21? Anyone who seems dependent? Where does this belief stem from?
Do I see children and think, blessing and potential, or burden and less than important?
Am I contributing to an environment and culture that children feel seen and known, that they are valued, mind-body-soul, and their thoughts, feelings, and contributions matter? Or am I contributing to an environment and culture that hurts, tears down, disregards, fails to respect, de-humanizes, and pushes away children?
We all started as a baby. We all started with scribbling. Art can tell you so much about the Artist. We are Our Creator’s Masterpiece! And so are the children who are watching!
I encourage you to read the article below: (some of my questions come from this article)
