How to encourage your child's gift

All of us are placed on this earth and given a gift, a talent. Some people go through life never knowing what that gift is, which is quite sad. When my son was four he drew a picture of a half moon. At the time, at first I thought it was cute, then another thought was could he possibly be a budding artist. Sometimes, you need to go with your gut. Now I know that some people might say that he was just a pre-schooler and he really didn't know what he was doing, but here is the thing, I did at the time, think twice, but knew in the back of my mind that if his parents were creative, then maybe he would stand a better chance of taking those genes to the next level.

For a while I let his talent go. He never said anything about it nor did I. When he was in elementary school and middle school none of the teachers mentioned it, so his gift was placed on the shelf and collected dust. By the time he entered high school he had art classes and always  earned an "A", but it wasn't until his junior year that his art teacher brought to my attention that he was a very gifted artist and she really wanted him to attend an art school. Her approached reaffirmed what I knew when he was four years old. I knew then that I wasn't just a mother who thought her child was another genius. No, I knew he was smart, but I knew he had something else: a God given talent that I wanted him to show to the world.

I asked him, right after I spoke to her, did he want to go to art school after he graduated and he said he had considered it. I know some people are more practical and insist that their children major in something that "make sense," but that is not encouraging your child. That is fear, not having faith, and putting your own comfort ahead of your child.

Face it, a child is born and you take care of him/her, but we do not own our children nor do we own their lives and newsflash: we don't always know what's best for them. If that were the case then we all would be billionaires. Life is suppose to be about love and faith, not about sorrow and regret. Too many times we can recall something we could have or should have done, but that is your problem not your child's. A child is not asked to be born. Think about it, when was the last time a child came down and tapped you on the shoulder and asked you to give birth to him/her. I always gave my son respect, therefore he respects me. He is a grown man and to this day will ask for my advice and I ask for his, because, as I said, nobody knows everything. The art school he attended was a bust, but with his talent he really did not have to go.

There were mistakes made along the way, but I am happy and so is he that he was encouraged to live his life, after all I won't be with him always and at least I can say that I wasn't that overbearing mother and I didn't let him make his own mistakes. He can always say that his mother let him be himself but was there when he needed her. And that's all any of us can ask for.