Multipotentiality and me, and the kids

Well I have found out what I am - a multipotentialite. Yep, apparently that's me.

I stumbled across this when looking at the Puttylike website, which is a lifestyle design site for multipotentialites.

"What is this 'multipotentiality'?" I hear you say (by the way, it's a bugger of a long word to keep retyping, so I'm going to try avoiding it as much as possible). Emily Wapnick, the founder of Puttylike, defines a multipotentialite as -

"a person who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life. Multipotentialites have no "one true calling" the way specialists do" -2012 Puttylike

She goes on to discuss the way we pursue many goals at the same time, and thrive on discovery, and learning new things constantly.

An important aspect of this is the way many Multipotentialites bring their many interests together in unexpected and creative ways leading to groundbreaking outcomes.

I'm not going to ramble on about this much more. The website puttylike.com does a much better job of explaining the terminology, and is an addictively interesting read.

Anyway, spurred on by a forum on the site, I have been thinking about how having two children has affected the way I function as a multipotentialite.

Let me start by saying that my children are the most wonderful part of my life, and I love them more than anything in this world.

This does not mean, however, that I haven't had moments of extreme frustration since becoming a mother. I will not lie, there have been many times that I have felt frustrated that I couldn't pursue a project or take a course because of my life responsibilities. Having always been highly productive with my varied activities, and a free spirit who was always on the move, I had to rethink my lifestyle when I became a mother.

First of all, I rearranged my day. I always get up a couple of hours before the kids do and have some time to do something on my own. This is an amazing energy boost believe it or not.

Secondly, I accepted that while there where many things that I couldn't fit into my new lifestyle, there are so many amazing new experiences that kids bring with them.

My kids are the biggest source of inspiration that I have, and have opened me up to so many new experiences that I may never have had otherwise.

An example: taking my kids to the library regularly reintroduced me to kids books, and made me realize how much I love story telling. As a consequence, I am now writing and illustrating my first children's book. It's amazing how the dots connect.

My children have also reintroduced me to old passions, things I had forgotten that I loved. When my daughter started dance classes, I began to practice at home too. Water fights, playgrounds and singing with wild abandon in the car have become new-old interests.

Oh, and little kids look at everything with interest, and love discovering new and unexpected things - a perfect match for the multipotentialite in me!

Basically, even on those days (or weeks) when I am stuck at home looking after sick, grumpy kids, and craving a bit of sunshine and adult company, it pays to remember the positive things that the kids bring to my life, and dwell on those. I know that there are times when this can be difficult to do.

As for that course that I wanted to take. Some other time.

Reforming our attitudes towards food

Last Friday, my 3 year old daughter's preschool had a Halloween party. Parents were asked to sign up on a sheet to bring in food, the options being: Fruit, Vegetables, Crackers, Cookies, Brownies and 'Other'. I signed up to take fruit and crackers in, wanting to provide something healthy for the tots. However, I noticed that I was one of very few parents who were thinking this way. The majority of parents had signed up to bring in cookies and brownies - does a class this young need this much sugar??

At the actual party, the teacher did not bother to even open the fruit plates I and two other parents had bought in, or the crackers. She did, however, fill each child's plate with five different, luridly colored cookies, I wonder what actually happened to the healthy snacks.
The interesting thing was that none of the children ate all of their cookies, a few ate one or two, most ate none. My daughter, who doesn't like sugary food kept asking the teacher for crackers and was ignored. The outcome of this was that the majority of children in the class ate no snack at all.

I am concerned that we are programming children to eat junk food, even when they are not naturally inclined towards it. It should be our job as responsible adults (especially those of us who work with children) to encourage healthy eating habits.

If our children are ever going to grow up eating healthily, we need to change our own attitudes and vocabulary when referring to food. It is often burnt into our children's pysches that sweets are rewards and treats. My daughter's teacher asked 'Wouldn't it be great if we got treats like this everyday at snack time?' and my daughter, who dislikes the taste of sugar, and is naturally inclined towards healthier food (lucky, lucky me) screamed "Yes! Yes" in support of the idea. She pretends to like cake, because "everyone does".
On the other hand, I overheard a parent in a restaurant telling her child" I know broccoli is yucky, but you have to try eating some"- hardly a statement to make you want to try the vegetable.

I am part of a group called Moms Rising who have been lobbying for healthier meals in schools. Moms Rising recently reported that current standards set by the US Department of Health for school meals are so vague, that many schools use fruit juice as a replacement for fresh fruit in meals. My daughter's preschool does offer fresh fruit, but often throws in potato chips as a vegetable choice ???? This is really not an area where corners should be cut.

As a child growing up in Britain, I had my own share of unhealthy and, frankly, unpalatable school meals, but that was in the 1980s. There has recently been a major reform in the way schools think about food in England. Celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver have helped to devise healthy and balanced meals for public schools that don't taste like cardboard, and the days of loading up your plate with a hotdog and fries are slowly disappearing. I think it is high time the US followed suit.

While I am on the subject. We are living in a diverse, multicultural society. It is also about time that schools started to offer options for children with dietary restrictions. Ooh, and wouldn't it be nice to expose them to food from different cultures rather than dumbing down their palates with mac and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches.
I have yet to find a school that offers vegetarian food for my child, and expect to be packing her lunches every day for many years to come. Although, that may not be such a terrible thing, given the current attitudes towards food at many schools.