Lead by example
Post written by: beagooddad
I’ve talked about teaching kids that things like reading are fun by just sitting down and reading your own book to yourself. They’ll see you enjoying the activity and want to emulate it.
One thing that I really want my kids to learn to love is art projects. I loved them as a kid because we were always doing them. I am horrible about actually thinking them up and sitting down with the kids to do them.
Fortunately, BeAGoodMom is awesome at all things art activity related.
Yesterday, I was potty training Pookie again (we get a little closer everyday - I’ll write more about that later). To pass the time, I was doodling on the computer while sitting at the kitchen table while he ran around playing with toys.
He came up to look at what I was drawing and he started asking for things. I was drawing cartoon faces so he wanted them to have eyes, mouths, hats, etc. He had fun telling me what he wanted and then seeing them magically appear on the screen.
Then he sat down next to me and picked up a pencil. I grabbed some paper for him and he started drawing faces, too.
It was a nice reminder for me that leading by example only works if you are willing to be the example.

May 8th, 2007 at 4:17 am
You know, you can also turn that into a great art therapy exercise for Pookie. You draw expressions on the face to help him reognise the typical signs of happiness (a smile), unhappiness (a frown), anger (crumpled mouth), sadness (a tear) and so on. It sounds obvious, but it actually helps all kids grasp the universal signs of emotion and to find the words to express how they’re feeling.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Congratulations, this post has been nominated for GNMParents “Hot Stuff Of The Week”! We love your focus on positive, aware parenting. Leading by example is a tough thing for any parent, so your post was a welcome reminder.
Good luck in the voting,
Stu Mark - GNMParents
May 8th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Do you mind if I ask — do you remember when your kids first got interested in drawing? I’ve got a 15 m.o. who just discovered that marks can be made on paper (among other places!) but I’m wondering how much I should expect “arts and crafts” to be part of an early toddler’s life…
May 9th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
You’ve been nominated for Hot Stuff Of The Week over at our site, http://www.gnmparents.com
Good luck!