The Mind

(My kitchen nook with some of my favorite things.)

Remember when we were kids and there was the TV commercial for the United Negro College Fund and the slogan was "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste"?

Well, I was thinking about that slogan as it pertains to our kids the other day.

(Hand cut by Joanie for my 38th birthday.)
(This one is a Phoenix, I think. I just noticed the little piece of paper fell off the back. Waa.)

One of the things I love most about summer is that I can see that the kids are not wasting their minds. That they do things that interest them. That they have the opportunity to try things that they wouldn't normally try when in the school house environment.

(Hand cut by Joanie for my 39th birthday.)
(A charm to provide good fortune in the four seasons.)
(And I don't know how to rotate the picture, so imagine it with the square on top.)

About a week before school started, I was finding little cut-up pieces of paper all over the house. Seems that Miles had decided he would be Edward Scissorhands. A few days later, while vacuuming the couch, I found a piece of red construction paper that was folded into a perfect rectangle.

I grabbed it up and was definitely a bit irritated. UGH! Another unfinished project or piece of trash that has been left here for me to pick up!!!

Well, I took a minute and unfolded it before I threw it away. Low and behold, it was beautiful. An incredible, beautiful creation! So shocking and stunning that I had to sit down and really study it.

Turns out, Miles did it. No book. No computer. No TV show telling him what to do. He had just been thinking about making paper designs like the ones that Grandma Joanie has given me for my last two birthdays. And then he sat down and started cutting.

And look at this master piece. I love it.
(Hand cut by Miles, 7 years old.)

Kinda makes me wonder what other things the kids are noticing around our house. And how the things that they see are inspiring them. And maybe, just maybe, bringing out a hidden talent, hidden skill or even an interest that we wouldn't otherwise know about. I'm not a paper cutter. (Or a line cutter for that matter. ha ha. Made myself laugh.) How or what would I ever teach them about this art?

The kids are constantly looking at their surroundings and taking it all in. Are we even aware of the impact that these surroundings are making on them? Do they feel the love that is shown on all of our walls? Love for family, love for friends, love for art?

It appears they do.

And I didn't even know.

Guess I should go get those piles of clothes off of the dining room floor now, huh?

(And P.S. - this is one of the things that I miss most about summer being over.)