I was saddened to read about the death of author and illustrator Maurice Sendak yesterday. His iconic children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” has always struck a chord with me and despite now being 9 and 10, my children still enjoy reading it and acting out the ‘roaring of their terrible roars and the gnashing of their terrible teeth’. However my admiration of the book lies not so much in being wowed by Sendak’s astuteness with words nor for his evocative illustrations, but for his courage and intelligence in encouraging children to enjoy the ‘wonder of self-discovery’.
To my mind, Sendak resolutely believed that children, at a young age, deserve to be able to consider concepts and emotions such as anger, injustice, leadership and failure. Further, he recognised their innate intelligence and ability to digest the vagaries of life and to independently factor and manage the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ into everyday life. Of course they occasionally need guidance by a loving adult hand, but if the hand is always sugar-coated do we run the risk of stifling independence and independent learning, creativity, imagination and responsible risk-taking? I think we do.
I write often about the ability of nature and outdoors to foster these traits in children. Left to their own devices, a child is capable of learning more about themselves and their abilities (emotional, spiritual and physical) in an hour outside, than they could ever hope to glued to a plasma screen or if we fall into the trap of over-structuring their free time.
Last week, while collecting pine cones for a bonfire, my son fell some 20ft out of a pine tree like a rag-doll, bounced on a barbed wire fence yet somehow managed to land on his feet like a cat. Did watching him fall terrify me? Did I immediately feel nauseous? Did I feel a turbo-rush of mother guilt? Yes to all of the above. Would I encourage him to climb the same tree today? Abso-bloody-lutely. And maybe next time he does, I’ll also suggest he take his copy of Where the Wild Things Are to the very top of that tree, ponder the world and ROAR his terrible roar.
How do you encourage your child/ren to discover the wonder of themselves?
Fantastic! I couldn’t agree with you more! I think it’s just a real shame that kids don’t seem to have (or be given) the same freedom to experience the adventures we loved and still fondly (if slightly hazily) remember. 🙂 I think it’s vital for social, emotional and physical development.
Lovely tribute to Maurice Sendak too. Cheers, Jo
People often look at my 10 year-old up a tree and expect me to tell him get down. I think it’s the public liability factor along with anxiety. He was climbing lamp posts barefoot regularly at the age of five. He’s never fallen and I have confidence in his abilities. His father’s a magnificent climber who used to climb 20 coconut trees a day. They have the climbing gene.
“Would I encourage him to climb the same tree today? Abso-bloody-lutely.” You’re wonderful Caro. I love fearlessness.
Yes, that is very sad about the author but he has left behind an incredible book that all children seem to love. Your son did really well to ‘bounce’ after a fall from such a height. I’m sure he has many more trees to climb.
I encourage my son to climb trees but not very high! Probably because by the age of 7, he had already broken 3 bones (1 from a height, one from falling over his own feet, and one from a door slamming – ouch). I climbed trees as a child and was fearless! But based on my son’s track record, I just don’t want any more injuries!
We do a lot of outdoor activities – camping and hiking being the main ones – but try to keep their feet a bit closer to the ground.
Annie, I do think the adage “mother knows best” is apt when determining how high your children should climb, so your choice is the right one for you. I broke my arm 3 times as a child falling (same arm, same spot) but it only spurred me to climb higher! Call me daft. 🙂 I’ll have to check out your website. Thanks for taking the time to comment. cheers,