“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” – Aldous Huxley
Greetings Blog Family,
Children are amazing. They have this spectacular glow about and for everything they encounter. Their lives are filled with wonderment, questions, concern, passion. All of those things we wish were inside of us. But they once were.
I am no expert, but I assure you I have been a child before. If I’m not mistaken, you most likely were a child as well at one point. If not, you must still be a child. That’s cool. Singing “I don’t want to grow up i’m a Toys R Us Kid” — Don’t tell me you don’t remember that. That was/is my song there.
The Secret of Genus is to carry the spirit of the child
Children are wildly enthusiastic about life. We must do everything possible to foster that enthusiasm throughout our lives. If what you are doing is not bring you real joy, then consider doing something else. You deserve to have and do what you love.
If you are parents, allow your children to explore their lives and enjoy it. Don’t force them to do only one thing or what you think will be best for them. Children are very aware these days and may know something you don’t. Talk with them, don’t for them.
My Son the Spelling Bee Champion
Last night, Jayel won his district spelling bee for 3rd to 8th grade, which is an awesome achievement. The kicker is that he is 9 years old. (No pictures yet, terrible right?) This little guy is amazing I tell you. And yes, that is a proud, biased Father talking. But he really is something else and is a great source of my insight and enthusiasm.
Since winning District Spelling Bee, he is now scheduled to move on to the Regional Spelling Bee, Feb. 2009. If he place high enough, he could will move on to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
That is crazy. He just turned nine years old Sept. 2008….oh, but he is in the 5th grade and takes 6th grade math. Believe it or not, we are still holding him back, they want to move him ahead, but that is too much for us to handle.
I spoke about not forcing your children to do something because that is a parenting philosophy my wife and I have with our children. We like to allow them to explore their interest…even though we don’t understand some of it, like Pokemon.
Perfect example is that when Jayel was younger, he was very much into chess. He loved it, competed in tournaments. Was on a chess team. Won chess tournaments like in downtown Chicago. Here is some links to his chess history:
CBS -Interview – (cbs2chicago.com), “Four-Year-Old Calls Chess ‘Child’s Play’, 25 March 2004.
ChessBass.com – Jayel Taylor, chess player and webmaster
The Chess Drum Feature – 4 year old Jayel Fea tured on CBS
He moved on from Chess
Jayel had an extraordinary chess experience, but he picked up other interest. As a fan, I wanted him to keep developing as a chess player. But as a parent, decided to allow him to continue exploring the world and having experiences. Now he talks about it like it was 20 years ago saying, “When I was younger, I use to compete in chess tournaments. I was pretty good.” I am thinking, “Your only nine! You are still young!” As suspected, video games, Pokemon, sports, and other things have taken his attention now. He is nine years old and is into a bunch of stuff. In February, he will test for his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Doe. He is on the football team, just picked up bowling, loves the Wii, Stratego, Cash flow 101 & 202, Scrabble is his game, and too much more.
A Love for Words, reading, and spelling
Out of this journey of chess, video games, and life has emerged Jayel’s passion for words, reading, and spelling. It is great. Imagine that, we allowed him to be himself and he strolled into another staple of life, self-education. He is enthusiastic in all of his pursuits, which is what I believe allowed him to win the spelling bee. He worked for it by studying. The list was impressive, but he really had a handle on the words.
Carrying the spirit of the child
Jayel is carrying the spirit of the child forward with him. And it is with great enthusiasm that he continues to grow and prosper. Let us learn from him and all the children around us to be excited about your ventures, about your outlook, about your opportunities and enter into them with great enthusiasm.
Who knows, you just might enjoy yourself and eventually explore and exploit your genius.
What an amazingly genius son Jayel is! You must be one proud parent. I hope my son will grow up as amazing as yours.
That first quote is ever so true. It makes me sit back, reflect and ask myself if I still carry that spirit. I then realize I didn’t grow up and I’m still a child inside me – at least my heart is.
Thanks for the insightful article and I wish Jayel grows up to be as great as his father.
Yan
Blogging Tipss last blog post..The Art of Writing Well
Hi I got your blog from Ben commenting post, I would like to comment to your blog, since I found it interesting.But I need your permission first.Let me know about your approval
Ari Lestarionos last blog post..New Year’s Resolution: Best Natural Foods for Longevity
Hi,
Ended up at your blog from your comment on Thou Shall Blog. I had a guest post there.
Didn’t know you were a parent. First, congrats on your son’s spelling bee achievement. That’s cool.
Second, great parenting advice you have: “If you are parents, allow your children to explore their lives and enjoy it. Don’t force them to do only one thing or what you think will be best for them.”
I have two kids, ages 8 and 6, and I try to follow this advice so much. They need to be who they are, not who I wish I was at their age.
Sometimes, that can be hard because we bring all our baggage from our own childhood to our parenting. I was a brainy, bookworm as a child and was frequently told by adults I should act dumb, so I didn’t intimidate the boys.
I hated that, and now I want my daughter to know she can be anything she wants — a doctor, a lawyer, president of the United States. But I have to let her be who she wants to be — even if that means she wants to be something I wouldn’t pick.
– Gina
Gina Chens last blog post..Nanny accused of dumping kids at unlicensed day care
@ Yan – You are right, I am a proud parent. That boy is amazing and I know it. We love him so much. Yes, you have to carry the spirit of the child with you at all times. That is when you genius will shine. And let’s hope that Jayel passes far beyond his father. Thanks for stopping by.
@ Ari – Glad you stopped by. I approved your comment and would like to build and grow with you.
@ Gina – That was a great post on Thou Shall Blog. Good stuff!
Yep, I am the proud parent of two boys, 9 and 5 years old. They are special. But as a parent, we have to be careful not to force our lives onto them. Sure I would love for him to continue on to be a chess champion, but maybe that isn’t want he wants and I have to let him explore this life to see what really brings him joy.
Glad to hear that you are aware of this danger and working to let your children to be as free as possible in their exploration of this life. Sounds like a bad thing for people to tell you to dumb it down so the boys won’t be intimidated. The girls I grew up with sure didn’t listen to that lesson. They wore their intelligence on their sleeve….and I loved it! LOL! Heck, my wife is way smarter than I am and that is one of the things that attracted me to here.
I wish you all the best.
Just read this — your kid sounds amazing. Seriously. And nice move on the chess part of the story — nothing worse than a stage parent. Just saw the documentary that came out last year on the 4 year old “abstract” painter in NY, and the 60 minutes story with Charlie Rose that nearly sank the poor kid’s career. If you haven’t seen it yet, it provokes some interesting questions and might be worth a watch for ya. As a painter, I didn’t buy her story, by the way. For whatever that’s worth.
Matty Bylooss last blog post..Building a Dining Room Table 1: The Bench
@ Matty – Thank you for the kind words. Jayel is a great kid and he is really fantastic. I feel you on the stage parents. I have never wanted to be one of them. My only rule for my two boys is that they learn how to play chess. That is it. If we do the tournaments, great, if not, great. I just want them to be outstanding people is all.
I feel you on the little girl painting. It is difficult stuff.