Archive for the ‘k ids’ Category

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Getting my kids into the tangable

In art,Books,business,computers,culture,family,k ids on August 11, 2011 by mstevensrev

My work allows me to be around amazing technology and the people who make it.  I have worked intimately with leading companies and gotten to see first hand the artistic nature of writing code and then it coming to life.  For most consumers though this elaborate process simple becomes a means of consuming content, the creative is behind the curtain and often ignored.

I started thinking about this because of a conversation with a new friend where in talking about raising children she mentioned the importance of having books around in addition to the ‘screens’ that are apart of our daily existence.  She said, “I want my kids to have something tangible.”  Which stuck with me.

Tangible things create limits very quickly for us.  That is the magic of technology, Ray Ozzie said that the entire reason he started programming is because he knew if he could imagine it, he could create it.  There is a huge difference though in my mind between creating and consuming.  When I pick up a trumpet I immediately run into the limitations of my lips, training, lungs, and everything else.  When I play a trumpet on Garageband I am free of many limitations.

As a parent of three kids I am often looking for the easy way to get through situations, and I am keenly aware that is not the best.  Hand a kid a screen, and they will be entertained for an hour, teach the kid what about life the screen makes magical and they will be caught up in the wonder of life.

 

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Articles

>Trust and Parenting

In Bible,family,k ids,Parenting,Theology on August 23, 2009 by mstevensrev

>”If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.” – C.G. Jung

Recently because of my road trip with my two girls and a sermon I heard last week, I have been thinking about parenting. The major theme I am putting thoughts under is TRUST. Why?

1. I notice that my almost two year old has the hardest time when her immediate needs are not being met and she does not believe that they will be.
2. I notice that my eight year old becomes obsessive about issues when she does not think we are listening to her or going to make sure her desires are met.
3. Both are crushed when we don’t do something we said we would for whatever reason.

The list goes on but these are the highlights for me recently. Each comes down to a lack or trust or trust being broken. As a parent it is important for us to teach our children to trust. It was trust that was broken after creation when Adam & Eve gave into the serpent, and it is a deeper trust we are learning in the recreation. So we teach trust in a few ways.

1. We fail and are untrustworthy, so our kids freak. (There are ways that this can be used to teach).
2. We are people who value our commitments and words, and build a track record of trustworthiness (the Jung quote was leading to that)
3. We build in clear situations for our children where they are aware of how dependent they are upon the care of their parents and call them to trust us in caring for them.

Where are the places you have had to grow as a parent in becoming trustworthy? What is the volue of our children learning to trust?

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Articles

>Too long for twitter…too funny not to write

In family,k ids on October 8, 2008 by mstevensrev

>I’m lying in bed with my wife last night (you know a real funny joke is coming with that start) and she says, “I could read the nutritional content of Aidyn’s poop today.”  And I begin guessing what food our baby ate, peas, carrotts…

Karin says, “No, she ate some paper product that had the nutritional contents listed…I READ WORDS IN HER POOP.”
I fell out of be laughing.

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