Sun, sand and encouraging the dreamers

I'm conscious that I don't really want to write too many posts with regards to parenting. I'm not a model parent and there appear to be many people out there who are much more qualified on the subject than I am. But this is important to me...

After spending a lovely day at the seaside with the beautiful three and my parents yesterday, after digging holes, building sandcastles and trying to prevent sand getting absolutely everywhere. After watching my girls enjoy being outdoors, collecting shells, exploring sand dunes and generally having the time of their lives, I sat and read this...

Essentially, if you don't want to take the time to read it, a lady who has done the amazing thing of adopting three children who have had a very damaged start to their young lives, is outraged about an article in a certain newspaper which brands children who don't pass year 6 SATS as "mediocre failures"...this is rhetoric coming from this government with regards to education and it cannot possibly take circumstance and individuality into account.

Besides making me very angry for this family who have already overcome so much, I found this article challenges me on how I plan to support the nurturing of my children through their academic life. Of course, my biggest hope is that they excel, of course it is. But what resonates with me is that I need to recognise in their everyday world, the things that make them tick...their own passions and characteristics that need to be encouraged. Those things that make their eyes light up. My own passions and joys in life are not particularly measurable by academic achievement. Yes, i can read and write to a fairly good standard but its my over active imagination and love of words that has fueled this and it's probably not the first thing i would tell you that I'm good at.

The political standards of education are never ever going to measure my children's capacity for compassion and empathy or the beautiful way in which they build relationships with those around them. Or what their presence in this world is going to give to others over the course of their lifetime. I refuse to let a bunch of people who have never, and are very unlikely to ever, meet my children, tell me that they're not good enough for their system.

I want to share this quote with you that really stirs my heart...

"It is crucial that when our children look into our eyes, regardless of the circumstances bearing down on them, that they see someone who believes in them"

Danny Silk                  

All I can say is that I'm trying to do my best to draw the strengths and talents out of these incredible little people. I know that they are going to have struggles down the line. There are times that they push me to my limit, sometimes beyond it. Sometimes I shout, and get angry with them. Sometimes, I want to go and hide and eat chocolate. But the instant something is a little bit off kilter, my instinct is to draw them to me, to sooth and reassure, to tell them that they have the potential for anything they dream of.

When I think about the joy that my children had spending time exploring nature, learning about how sand works when constructing sand castles. When i watch them painting, or helping me cook. When my oldest come home from here swimming lesson and tells me how well she is doing...it is evident that there is so much more to education in addition to what they can learn in a classroom that can never be measured by Whitehall suits. It sounds obvious, i know, but sometimes its good to make a conscious stand.

I will not allow their potential to be defined politicians and statistics. 

I will encourage them to go higher, do more, reach further and dream bigger, however that looks for them.