Art Exhibition

Here are some pics of the last art class and mini exhibition, my head is chopped off here... great camera person, the art teacher, luckily she isn't teaching photography! Kai kai's art projects over 10 lessons. He is a bit art-out now. Especially since he also does projects in school (I have a whole folder full, which at least he likes looking thru!). Next week its kiddie yoga.

I once attended a yoga workshop by Duncan Wong, he is of mixed parentage and started yoga really young but also Kung Fu. His clas is quite interesting in that he could meld Kung Fu poses with yoga, he had a really aggressive peaceful (if those two words are possible in the same sentence) state about him.

Today we also started out parenting course, its based off "how to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk", its by two jewish ladies, tho on DVD (filmed in the late 1980s), they already looked like jewsih bubbies. We have a workbook and have to carry out the skills learnt today. So lesson 1 is... try not to deny your childs feelings.

Eg. I hate grandma, a denying adult response is, "no you don't mean that" or Eg. 2, "This is Yucky", the denying response include, "no it isn't, everyone else likes it".

The three key response (with empathy) is (a) oh... hmmm.... I see.... (looks like terry and me are already communicating like this), (b) identify the feeling, "oh you hate grandma today", (c) give a child a fantasy if you cannot give him reality, so to this is yucky, " you mean you don't like that special worm juice?" (ok so the last one may need a bit of modification).

Anyway the DVD showed a similar adult situation where we may encounter and the usual "denial" responses that an adult would say to a child and they really sounded patronizing or pity or like an amatuer psychoanalysis or un-needed advice. Apparently questioning is not so good because then it makes a child try to justify their position when they don't have the vocabulary to do so yet.

I have used the technique before this class but it was really interesting to hear other views from moms and the DVD, visual version and now reinforced by homework, vs. falling asleep before finishing a chapter of another parenting book. Stay tuned for free parenting lessons! (usual disclaimers apply).