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Preface
H20: Book Installment #1 H20 TO GO! Growing Emotional Resiliency & Navigating Through Childhood with Heart, Humor & Optimism By Margo Judge
Wednesday, Spetember 9 H20: Book Installment #1
PREFACE (Abbreviated) The
Who, The Why and The What? Those of you who have children in any kind of competitive endeavor know that at clinics or showcases, tournaments or competitions, you meet people from all over the country you might never have met otherwise and you develop ‘travel’ friendships. And so it was that a mom and I talked while we sat on the bleachers. She soon shared with me that she had Stage 3 Breast Cancer and had just completed her last round of radiation and chemotherapy. I offered congratulations! She replied that she was confident she’d see her son graduate but was not at all sure about her daughter and she was really scared. Why? I asked. Because, she replied, I have really iffy health issues, my daughter is in middle school, I'm a single parent, we're extremely close and I don’t know what would happen to her if something were to happen to me. I actually think it would destroy her. had a saying, no matter what! You know, I replied with a smile, I could die in a car accident tomorrow and you could live to
be 95! Who’s to say, the horse could talk! She smiled and we went on to talk of other things. ok, Margo, this is it! You have got to put a face and a name to all the observations you’ve made, experiences you’ve had and thoughts you’ve gathered over the years regarding children’s emotional health. That is when I started my H20 blog, and began to write articles from which
grew my book. Life is going to deal a heavier hand to some of our children than to others, in the form of handicaps or disabilities, trauma, or crisis. But, we want with all our hearts and souls for our children to survive, overcome, move forward and accomplish. They can if they have the emotional strength. adult toddlers! These are people who cannot deal with stress; they cannot handle obstacles; and they cannot overcome setbacks. So, they whine and complain, they become control freaks and have tantrums, or, they run away and avoid responsibility altogether. We do not want to raise an Adult Toddler! There are too many out there already! And not only do they wreak havoc with our lives, they wreak havoc with
everyone around them! it will impact negatively on every aspect of their personal lives-be it their family, their friends, their relationships or their co-workers. Not only will they wreck havoc with everyone around them, they will wreck havoc with themselves. They will not be emotionally healthy, stable or happy adults. And
we certainly do not wish that for our children either. by the time they go off to college and then out into the world. And, we hope to raise an eventual emotionally mature adult who can make just decisions, and lead an ethical and principled life. So, the single most important role we have as parents is to nurture
emotional resilience and health from the very beginning and to grow three fail-safe attributes in our children. all things good for these little beings who hold our hearts. We worry about the world they will inherit. They live in a mobile and complex environment ull of multi-tasking and instant global communications. Our children can see in wide screen and high definition. Where once the question might have been how to expand their horizons, today it becomes how to edit their view, how to keep them off the super highways of exposure until they are truly ready, and how best to protect them from all the dangers inherit in speeding through childhood. while scrutinizing every detail of their present. Some of us with overly protective eyes, will search out the easiest routes, smooth every bump in the road, and man every crossroads. Others of us will simply drop our kids by the side of a road and leave them to fend for themselves without a compass, a map or the skills and instincts necessary to navigate
a safe route. What if, outside of our presence, we had nothing to offer our children? What could we give them? What if our children had no more than our voice in their ear? What should they hear? What could we do, as parents, to guarantee that in the midst of fog and confusion,
setbacks or delays, our children could still succeed in their journey to adulthood? their happiness,
and their success. will be essential for its intellectual and academic development, so too are three attributes vital for a child’s spiritual and emotional health. They are quite simply-Heart,
Humor and Optimism—in that order. our friends, our work. Love is whatever we pour our hearts into. There would be no use going any further in discussing a newborn’s development if we did not first proclaim LOVE as absolutely paramount in growing a new heart. And for a newborn, Love is thoroughly and totally physical. Somewhat like putting a battery in a charger, a newborn’s heart must physically attach t to another’s heart in order to survive and to warm. That is why we hold a baby close, we kiss, we cuddle, we carry, we caress. We cannot love a newborn from across a room! Babies who go untouched do not develop emotionally. Their hearts cannot warm. They will growweak and cold and shut down. In short, a newborn’s heart is completely dependent upon bonding with another heart in order
to live, and to love. That noble warmth of spirit will introduce a child to the concept of empathy--the ability to identify with the thoughts or feelings of others so that he/she can feel for a relative in need, concern for a sick pet, and compassion for a sad friend. Such concern will help develop ethics—a philosophy dealing with the right or wrong of actions so that our children will not want to intentionally hurt others by word or deed. When children become young adults, such actions will help establish principles-rules of conduct so that when necessary, our grown sons an daughters will have the moral courage to do what is right, and when called upon, to make just, albeit difficult
decisions. we must first warm its heart with an abundance of love. A young heart, however, remains extremely vulnerable for quite some time, and in Chapter One, I will discuss how we can protect Heart from harm while it is charging, and growing. When we think Humor, we think funny--something we hear, or see, or do that makes us chuckle or laugh. Children have a natural affinity with humor. That is why so many young children’s books, videos and music are filled with humorous anecdotes, scenes and lyrics. Very young children love the exaggerated, the absurd or the silly. And there is nothing more infectious than the sound of a small child’s giggles. Laughter has also been said to increase the heart rate and relieve stress. My grandfather knew of a Russian doctor who would prescribe tickling for
15 minutes to bring down a child’s fever! their world. It is actually the very foundation of Perspective. When young children see a car in the shape of a banana, or a candelabra that sings, a rat as a chef, or a penguin tap dancing, they are being offered an alternative interpretation of
their physical world. they are learning perspective in a very creative, child-friendly yet fundamental way. As our children move into tweenhood, and teenage hood, the ability to step back and view circumstances from an such an alternative perspective will be critical in keeping them from getting stuck in the moment— the single most destructive trap into which a middle school or High School student can fall (I speak
of this in detail in Chapter 3 and 4--Taking in The View) they will need an equally strong antidote—Humor-for as long as possible. By fostering Creativity and introducing Perspective, Humor, as a form of expression, will remain a great coping tool throughout their entire lives. And let’s face it, who
doesn’t want to be around people who have a sense of humor! then Perspective becomes the pathway to Optimism. Once children can step out of their space in time, and see beyond the moment. They will no longer feel trapped. They can maneuver around obstacles, find ways to handle difficulties and see the beyond. The more they learn how to cope, the more confidence they gain and that confidence will encourage taking healthy risks, pursuing a passion, and
trying a new endeavors. and keep them focused and committed--trying out for the team, auditioning for the play, traveling to foreign lands, turning a hobby into a budding business, becoming serious about a field of study. Optimism can overcome disappointments and failures, fears and rejections. (I speak of this
in detail in Chapters 5 & 6) and I’ll get it for you even if it’s not wholesale, if all else fails--kind of optimism. True Optimism affirms children’s belief that they can make it on their own and believe that in the end, whether or not everything works out the
way they thought it would, they will be ok. as abundantly as we supply Love, if it is to become part of their being. Even when we doubt, they cannot doubt. Ours is the only strength they will have to draw on, and so we must show Optimism even when and if we don’t feel it. Children need to hear us say all the time-- good times always follow bad; no chance is last chance saloon; tomorrow is another day; as long as there’s a captain, there’ll be another ship and
this too, shall pass. don’t
worry, in the end it will all work out. You’ll be fine. if we can offer Humor as a coping skill and an introduction to Perspective; if we can continually supply the Optimism necessary to motivate and to pursue-- our children will be more than fine.
H20-Updated 2009 All rights reserved.
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