Creative Parenting

"How are you creative?" This question, posed by Chad Brannon on twitter, got me thinking about creativity. I instantly rejected the obvious: painting (I'm too messy), drawing (do you like this stick figure? 0
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musical instruments (not since high school). Then it occurred to me that parenting my four children, each with very specific and unique desires, is where my creativity lies.

When they were toddlers, it was simple to make up a song on the spot that taught how to wash hands. Even a purple dinosaur could do it. As the kids have gotten bigger, so have the challenges.

I remember teaching my daughter how to multiply by 10. It was harder than I'd thought. She was very bright and had learned addition and subtraction instantly. But looking at the problems on the page, she couldn't understand multiplying the tens by the ones and adding a zero to the end. I continued explaining, she continued being confused. Before we both became frustrated, I changed paths. We both stood up. We enlisted the help of her younger brothers. Julia stood with one arm straight in the air; she was the number 1. Tommy, with his arms overhead in an "O" became zero. I yelled out, "1 times 10 is, jump to the left," Julia leapt to the left, Tommy stood to her right. "10" they replied. We continued. "10 times 10 is, jump to the left," adding Anthony to the right as another zero. "100." With one lesson, all three learned the simplicity of multiplying by 10. I chalk that lesson up as a win.

They aren't always wins. But it's the losses that push me to explore my creative limits further.

On vacation, we decided to order dinner in one night. The six of us, two vegans, two fish eaters, two vegetarians bickered about the cuisine. "Let's get Greek."
"There's nothing I can eat from the Greek restaurant."
"I want Italian."
"Everything Italian has cheese in it. I don't eat cheese."
Exhausted and hungry, I started snapping at everyone. I tried to force everyone to agree. That failed. We took a vote; it was split evenly. Finally, I decided to just get everyone exactly what he or she wanted. My husband and I ordered one dish from every ethnic restaurant, then drove around the island picking it up. When we returned, everyone was surprisingly thrilled to share and enjoy what became our new tradition: "International Night."

Raising children who can wash their own hands, multiply, and eat with chopsticks is how I am creative. How do you express your creativity?