Dance...like no one is watching!

Dancing Queens

Lately, I've found that external stressors overwhelming my life are zapping the creative spirit right out of me.   Changes in my husband's work situation were completely beyond our control and had a somewhat catastrophic halo effect.  I find the most creative I can get right now, is to stare at the budget spreadsheet to see where our next meal is coming from. (okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration!)

Sleeping Creatively?

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Last night I had the strangest dream! I can't even remember all the details, really only a vague impression of being on a different world with mythical creatures and I was trying to get back home to go to work but just couldn't find the way!  I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all.

Usually, I find dreaming very rejuvenating.  It's a culmination of the imagination being pushed back by my active brain while I have to live in the real world.

It got me thinking about how sleep and dreaming fit into the whole idea of creativity thought.  Boy, when I'm tired, I can't think of simple things, let alone get creative.  I noticed the same thing in my kids - the poorer quality/length of sleep, the less creatively they can think!

When your child over reacts to small issues (like their cookie breaking) because of a lack of sleep, we automatically say "poor little thing needs a nap".  We're thinking of their ability to be and respond rationally.

But what do we say and do when they can't do or act creatively?  Do we even recognize that as a problem the same way?

Holy meteorite, Batman!

The walls of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area outside of Las Vegas, NV

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Wow!  If you spent any time last week outside staring up into the sky at night, you were probably as in awe as I while I watched the spectacular display of light and shadow created by the Perseid Meteor shower.

As a lifelong science and nature buff, I admit this year's shower may not have been as grand as past years on Wednesday due to the cloud cover in our area, but I was delighted just the same.  Thursday night we saw a meteor so vivid shooting across and above our house, we forgot we weren't watching a movie.  What made it even more special was having Bumpa (my dad) and our kids in the backyard oohing and ahhing with me.

Unfortunately, our dread camera (boy could we use a new one!) had eaten up the batteries by taking just two pictures again over the previous weekend.  This meant we had no power to take any images for posterity or the scrapbook, thus no awe-inspiring pics here!

Instead, the kids and I have decided we'd like to capture the night creatively!

Nature Challenge - Walk softly and carry a big stick!

Getting inspired by nature

It has officially been 10 days since we launched the Nature Challenge at Inspire...Imagine...Invent! With the sun shining and the warm weather still with us, it's the perfect time to get out there and connect with nature and inspire new ideas and thought patterns.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to see some friends. who stay at a family campground just outside of Arthur, Ontario on weekends.  It's a beautiful spot, surrounded by broad-leaf forests, mixed with fir trees, little rivers and creeks teeming with tadpoles and other little life.  A perfect place to take the kids for a nice hike!

Everyday? Really?

I've enjoyed reading feedback I've received from readers.  When I started this, I truly wasn't sure anyone out there would read it and so I've been writing thinking of myself as the audience - duh!  It's a public blog, not a journal!

One reader has asked me if I really meant I wanted her to do something creative with her kids every day.  Like most families, they are commited to a number of activities, friends, family and so on.  There often isn't time in their day to do something creative.

'Creative play' - back to basics

I decided to become a blogger because I want to be a voice among the chorus in a grassroots movement to bring back a focus on creative play for kids and the resulting benefit of that creative play:  imagination.

Imagination gets a bit of a bad rap sometimes.  You've probably heard this at least once:  "that's quite an over-active imagination you've got there" - with that one statement, we attempt to coax a tall tale  back to something resembling the truth, innocent enough... but somehow in the search for truth, we forget to recognize the ingenuity of the imagination that created the story!

Over-active imagination?  Once I believed that was possible....I'm not sure there is such a thing anymore. .. but, I'm starting to wonder if there's been an invasion of the body snatchers, actually!

I suppose I focus on "inspiring imagination through creative play every day" because it adds tremendous value to the lives of children, by creating habits and thought patterns that allow us to be creative, critical thinkers for the rest of our lives - and it takes a village.  After all, we are "children" for only 16 years and "grown up" for the next 70, if we're lucky.

Experimenting with colour on a rainy day

I'm notorious for making the kids put away gifts for later.  You know, when you put it out of sight, hopefully out of mind, until they reach a point of such boredom, it's time to re-gift it to themselves! 

www.giddyup.com for more info

For Christmas, my kids each received a gift from a friend - a Do-It-Yourself Science Kit, suited to each age - and these were one of those things I suggested would be good to hold for later.  Bailey's kit experimented with colour and Josh's, with germs.  I swear that almost every single day since Christmas they've nagged me to use those kits and my reply has always been: "wait until a rainy PA day [or summer day], you'll be glad I made you wait".

Today started with some pretty heavy rain.  Not afraid of little rain, they tore outside to be with friends while there was a lull in the downpour.  But what a bunch of disappointed faces when they couldn't play outside anymore by 11 am, because it was coming down too heavily again!  That's when we decided today was finally a great day to crack open the first of those coveted kits:  "My First Science Kit" by Scientific Explorer. 

Along the way, I wandered across these Little Humbugs

Somewhere over the rainbow

So, I've talked about this being a journey of sorts.  It wasn't originally designed to be MY journey, but it's turning out that way a bit...  and thanks for joining me for the ride!

After being a WAHM for almost only 9 months, we were really starting to feel the benefit of having me working out of our home.  The most stable of times? No, it wasn't, but despite some struggles, Josh and I set out to relaunch Dopey Kid Originals in Fall, 2008.  This time around though, the concept was to retail a much higher percentage of manufactured items and less artisan.


In the process of searching and building the selection of products we wanted to offer in our store, we came across a company we want to honour for their commitment to creativity, the environment and our social responsibility to each other. If we ever decide to offer an Inspire Award,

Getting Inspired by Nature Challenge!

Let's face it; the heart of creative inspiration must be Nature. Where else can you be inspired by colour so rich and melodies so sweet, textures so comforting or strange, and scents so rare and true.   

Bumpa is inspired by Nature!

Sure, nature isn't always pretty, but then again, neither is our imagination. The root of fear is imagination, after all, so it would be silly to expect that everything we "imagine" will be beautiful and sweet. The same is very true for kids, isn't it? They imagine some of the most awful monsters and places - but they are imagining, and that's the key!

Today we know our kids kids are spending less and less time in the outdoors - too connected instead to 'watch-me' toys and electronics, often bogged down with homework and/or participating in indoor activities.  We can't avoid these things entirely, and kids do gain some benefit from them in moderation; but to overcome some of the less desirable behaviour outcomes 

A Crock-a-doodle - Do!

Intense work!

I'm not one to do a birthday party every year. Birthday's are one of those family event that should last a week! I've always believed that birthdays are about celebrating the special being you are and not about impressing the families of your friends with how much you can "afford" to spend on the party (come on, admit it, you've overdone it at least once - we all have! I will be the first to admit, I spent over $400 on a "Pirate Party" for my son's 7th birthday with only 4 invited friends - YIKES!).  But, taking time to make the birthday person feel special for a week among the masses is how I prefer to celebrate.

Well, my daughter turned 5 in December - okay, 5 is a special one and I admit, I got caught up in the "event" of it! She had started JK the year before and had become quite the little-miss-popular, having been invited to many parties over the year. But what to do?

Kids Activites - have we gone too far?

Growing up, the four of us kids we were never involved in what were affectionately called "extra-curricular" activities. If the school wasn't doing it....neither were we! Despite the fact we've all turned into fine, contributing grown-ups, I admit, I often felt gypped growing up that my friends did figure skating, or gymnastics or soccer or, or, or - and I didn't get a chance. I vowed that "when I have kids......." of course, they'd be in every activity they could ever desire.

Quiet BFF moment after the show

Now that my kids are growing - Josh is almost 10 and Bailey is almost 6 - I've certainly had my share of fun trying to live up to my promise. Since Josh was old enough to be registered in an activity, I've had him in one....or two or

Why blog?

Passing an afternoon with friends

I've always been a creative person.  You know the type:  tries everything at least once, does a few really well, and others not so well, but most are just passable.  For the most part, I think the ooh's and aah's are just because the ooh-maker would  likely never have tried it! Not to reduce the amount of joy I get when they do it though! 

I've been a baker since I was 3, to my mother's chagrin, and finally started using the proper tools and the oven when I was about 9 - baking is truly my passion and I hear I'm quite good at it.  

You could say I enjoy cooking, though that might be a bit of a stretch as I have to try hard  to like it at times.  I prefer to entertain and add a bit of flair.  In fact, I try to finagle it that we hold all the family functions at my house so I have time to put the finishing touches on till the very last minute.  A few in my family endearingly nickname me "Martha".  But I think it's more