Soapbox Moments (news) with Leanne Bright Cloudman on AuthorsDen

Every so often, I have a tendancy to become very passionate about something. These events now have a proper name. They're called Soapbox Moments.

I am faced with the sad demise of imagination!
Kids have been out of school across the state for a week or two, the new is wearing off and "I'm bored," is setting in. So, I went looking for ideas to throw out to the wonderful moms who are ready to pull their hair out and it's not even July. What I found was utterly disheartening. Did you know you have to buy something in order to quell your child's, grandchild's boredom? Well, you don't! That's just what the mainstream media wants you to believe. Yep, there's that renegade thing coming out again, but it's ridiculous.

Okay, Soapbox Moment coming on...What ever happened to imagination? Remember, it's when you suggest an idea to the kids and they take it and run with it? You don't have to buy anything, order anything, download anything or turn on any electrical switch. You just crank up the creative in the kid!

Think back to when we were small. (And no that was not the dark ages) We'd head for the woods and become anybody we wanted to be. We'd play until we were called in for supper and then weren't real excited about ending our day. We played cowboys and Indians, pioneers and my personal favorite - Tarzan.. We'd pretend we were stranded and had to find a way to survive. We'd build forts and tree-houses and foraged for things to eat. Water was easy...it came from the creek. (Not safe now, apparently). We used our imaginations!

My parents and grandparents did the same thing. I've got a whole collection of stories about things they did as children. Of course, many of the ones Paw and his twin brother got into, according to my Aunt Hazel, are probably not things you'd want your children to do these days... but they had fun and they came up with the ideas out of their own imaginations. That's the point I'm trying to make. They used imagination to keep themselves occupied and it didn't take much effort.

My kids did the same thing growing up. Of course their characters and settings were a bit different from mine, but imagination was still rampant. I taught them the first lesson of the woods and turned them loose. Just for your information, that lesson is: "Stick that moves is not a stick."

Catching crayfish could fill an entire afternoon. Building dams out of rocks to make the water deeper, creating things out of materials they found in the woods. They were pretty big on creating clubs and deciding how they would be run. (Way out of my realm as a child). My son could come up with hundreds of ways to "save the world," when he was ten. My daughter could come up with just a many ways to defeat his minions. Now my granddaughter is learning to do the same things when we can pull her away from her computer long enough.

It may not be politically correct in the eyes of our current society, but considering some of the things that are...I'd rather teach kids to imagine the amazing and come up with their own ways to save the world.

Considering the current economy, maybe imaginations in children will make a comeback. It's certainly running rampant within our government. I know, I'm probably dreaming, but it could happen.

The big people can make anything happen, according to my granddaughter. So....close your eyes and reconnect, then teach your children and grandchildren they can go anywhere, without ever getting into the car; do anything they can dream, and be whoever sounds like fun today! If you're bored, turn off the computer, the television and the phone and join in. Family time might take on a whole new meaning!