A fulfilling motherhood experience needs some form of creativity in place. Being creative does not mean sitting down with kids to do arts and crafts. That is only part of it. Creativity in motherhood means having the cognitive ability to solve a motherhood-related problem with solutions provided by their environment.
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Rule The World
I am a firm believer of such especially if Mother-ing responsibilities fall on your shoulders more than your spouse. I am saying this motherhood has evolved so much over the years. It is not gender-specific anymore and we see more men taking on similar roles to nurture their children.
I feel that one of the most important aspects of creativity in Motherhood is providing the right nutrition for their children to grow up. Preparing a balanced yet interesting and tasty meal can be daunting for mothers who struggle to understand the food pyramid. In my clinical practice, I find that some mothers can formulate their own meal plans when we explain the core nutritional components that their children need. Very few need ‘spoon feeding’ into the exact meals they have to prepare.
Another aspect is in cultivating a child’s skill and building up their knowledge to get them ready to navigate the world.
A creative parental figure guides the child to solve their problems independently. Better still they could become the scaffolding support proposed by Vygotsky in his learning theories. I personally love Vygotsky’s theory as it makes sense to do such in raising children. Vygotsky’s theory of child development says that kids learn best through social interaction. They learn from being around people who know more than them, like parents, teachers, and friends.
Its main concepts include;
- Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): Kids have a range of things they can do on their own and things they can do with help. The zone in between is where they need a little support to learn and grow.
- Scaffolding: Adults can help kids by giving them hints, suggestions, and guidance. As kids get better at something, the support can be reduced over time.
- Language and Thought: Talking and interacting with others is important for kids’ thinking and learning. Language helps them understand and make sense of the world.
- Cultural Tools: Things like language, writing, and technology play a big role in how kids learn. They are tools that help kids solve problems and understand things better.
In a nutshell, Vygotsky’s theory shows that kids learn by being around others, getting help when needed, using language, and using cultural tools. It is a strong theory in childhood education and to me personally, in parenthood.
It’s good to prepare for motherhood. Even then, we don’t learn everything in one go. In fact, one can have up to 10 children but still struggle with it anyway. This brings on to my next observation of how mothers need to be open to lifelong learning. What you know about parenting 5 years ago may differ from what you need to know now. While it seemed OK to tie a misbehaving child to a tree 20 years ago but not socio-culturally relevant nowadays. In fact, it is deemed abusive in most communities nowadays.
Motherhood is simple if the plan is only to raise a child that is alive and breathing. It becomes more colourful and varied when you plan to prepare the kids for a world you envision them to live in, in the future.
