"You have to give the kids a chance to prove they can be responsible"

Aug 21, 2021 17:01

Back on June 18, my mom held a birthday party for my nieces (who were both born on June, three years apart but close together date-wise) at the condo she moved to in May. The condo has a nice back yard, and neighbors (and their kids) were invited to attend. Which is how the three girls from one of the other condos ended up playing with Nadya.

When I pulled out my camera, the neighbor girls were fascinated. I think they knew what it was, but they never actually seen one of those things in real life before. And they asked, politely, if they could use it. Which I allowed them to do, explaining how to take pictures. Everyone, including Nadya, took some pictures (which actually were decent, especially considering how young they were and this was their first time handling a camera).

Later during the party, I got a bunch of comments from the adult neighbors and from annanov about how impressive it was that I let little girls handle a camera. Anna in particular commented how this was my livelihood and how I was taking a big risk.

And it occurred to me it's not that I wasn't worried they would break it - I was. But one of the reasons why I let them use it anyway [*](the other reason is that I always like to support young girls' creative pursuits) was because of something I heard covering a nonprofit on the West Side of Chicago. I've covered move than a few of those things over the years, so I don't even remember the details, but something that one of the instructors said stuck with me.

"You have to let them prove that they can be responsible."

It doesn't mean that you have to let them run wild and do what they want. But it does mean that, sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith and remember that kids can be responsible, and that being trusted with something is good for them, because it builds character.

The other part of this, of course, is being able to read the signs. If the girls were more hyper, I might have hesitated more. But they asked nicely and politely, they handled the camera carefully and, when I asked to have it back, they returned it without complaint.

I took a chance - and my niece and the newfound friends proved themselves responsible.

thoughts and ends, family, art and creativity, personal, nextgen

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