Accentuate the Positive

    

As I alluded to in my previous post, things have been difficult. I know I can personally get hijacked by things like that...so I am trying to highlight some of the more positive things - not to hide my feelings or truth about what is going on, but to realize there is always a balance - and to truly appreciate all I have.

So in the midst of things going on with Puppy at school, his teachers keep telling me how they are so incredibly impressed with his cognitive abilities. I so love the kindergarten program at the school our children go to. It is a dual curriculum with Hebrew/Judaics and English/secular subjects. 

One amazing part of the curriculum that they have done year after year is the section about artists. This is our fourth time through kindergarten as parents, our fourth time through kindergarten with these two teachers - G'veret S and G'veret M, and each time I am more and more amazed by this lesson. 

They talk about artist like Yaacov Agam, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Marc Chagall, Jackson Pollock, and Michelangelo to name a few. 

G'veret S brought me to the back of the class and said they were learning about Marc Chagall yesterday. One of the things they do is show them pictures of the paintings these amazing artist are known for. They talked about how sometimes artist look to others to gain inspiration and technique before they find what suites them best. The book had pictures from Chagall like: 

 

Puppy's response to the pictures was - "oh, he must have studied Picasso when he did cubism!"

G'veret S and G'veret M were VERY impressed. I am too. I am not artistic, I know nothing about art, really - if I have a question or need to know something I have Google and NES to educate me on the fly (I didn't know what cubism was - I had my friend Google help me!). But Puppy - he loves art, loves creating art, loves learning, loves to use what he learns. 

Time to accentuate the positive! To really appreciate the things that he is able to do so well, even during a time when things are difficult on other fronts. 

He is a great kid. Empathetic, loving, bright, cuddly, sweet and artistic to name a few. I know one of the reason art is so loved is that it helps us stop to take a moment to live in the moment and appreciate what the artist was thinking and doing in that moment...even how it might relate to us in this moment. 

Today I appreciate art a bit more, for helping me take a moment to appreciate all this amazing 6 year old has to offer and what a bright future he will have.