The Balance Between Order And Creativity, Essential To Raise Healthy Children
Have you ever seen a child jumping in a puddle and his mother distressed by how she was staining her clothes? Have you known cases in which children come to school exhausted because they went to bed much later than they should? The above examples are everyday situations that occur in many families and perfectly illustrate the lack of balance between order and creativity.
Each child is a world and, in the same way, each mother and each family are also different. Not all children have the same personality traits and the same norms and values are not followed in all homes.
Some parents are more committed to encouraging spontaneity and others to instilling discipline. And every choice is valid, since it is made seeking the greatest good for the least. However, it is essential that in any case there is a certain balance.
The wings of creativity
There is no doubt that children need to develop their imagination and that they must grow up in environments that favor it. This ability that everyone possesses innately to a greater or lesser extent allows them to explore and know the world around them. Testing, investigating, discovering … are processes that lead children to understand their environment and know how to function in it.
Creativity allows them to develop their cognitive, motor and social skills. It stimulates them, increases their self-esteem and self-confidence. It’s a great way to explore your talents and spark your curiosity. All children must feel free to try and fail, change course, and discover the consequences of their actions.
Fostering their creativity is helping them develop a critical capacity, a confident and spontaneous personality and a flexible and adaptable attitude to changes. It is therefore invaluable for your personal growth.
The anchor of order
For its part, order also represents an extremely useful and necessary value for these little people in training. It is shown that routines and schedules give children a sense of security and predictability. Clear and consistent limits and rules are also critical to its development. This helps them learn to tolerate frustration and become more responsible and persevering.
Being organized with their spaces, with their toys and with their schedules translates into a greater mental and emotional balance. In addition, order is necessary to instill values such as discipline, self-care, and respect for oneself and others.
For example, keeping the turn to speak, picking up the bathroom clothes after showering or throwing garbage in the trash are simple gestures of order that are essential for a harmonious coexistence.
The balance between order and creativity
We are all aware, at least theoretically, that both qualities are necessary to raise healthy children. However, when it comes to putting it into practice, it is often difficult for us to find that balance between order and creativity. Thus, we tend to lean excessively towards one of the extremes. And whatever we choose, this will have not very positive consequences.
If we give our children wings to play, dream, imagine and explore, they will grow free and spontaneous, yes. But undoubtedly they will need a structure that makes them feel content and a guide that guides them on how to act.
An excess of creativity without order can create irresponsible, scattered children, unable to concentrate and work towards a goal. Children who, when they go out into the real world, will see that there are rules that we all have to abide by and will not be able to do so. Ultimately, they will be unhappy boys.
However, an excess of order will not be much more positive either. Excessive rigidity and discipline lead children to develop a submissive and accommodating personality, unable to think for itself and with serious difficulties adapting to different environments.
So let’s try not to clip their wings, but make sure they have a solid ground to return to. Let your child jump in puddles, get his hands dirty, experiment. But teach him also the value of cleaning up what has gotten dirty, picking up what has been messed up, and taking care of his internal and external world. The balance between order and creativity is what makes happy children.
