I just LOVE it when others agree with me...........

Remember when I mentioned that I thougth I was creative, but not artistic? In my reading the other day, I came across a statement that speaks to that point:

"Normally when we think of creativity, we think of artistic skills such as writing, drawing, or painting. But facing an obstacle and coming up with another way to reach the goal is creativity at its finest."

The above quote is from the book "Flipping the Switch," by John G. Miller. It is his follow-up book to "QBQ! The Question Behind the Question." The QBQ book (as well as the new one) is about personal responsibility. Turning your thoughts around so that you say, "What can I do to help the situation right now with what I have." Instead of "When am I going to get _______ from _______ to help the situation?" If you want to know more about the books go to QBQ.com Both books are quick little reads, and contain tons of good information about stepping up and fixing a situation instead of waiting for the other guy to do so.

What is the most creative solution to a problem you have ever come up with? How was it received by others? Sometimes wondering what the answer to the second question will be, keeps us from acting on our creative ideas. It can be hard to go against the flow, or risk speaking out against something that "has ALWAYS been done that way," even when it is clearing no longer working. I believe, if I want the right to complain about something, then I have to be willing to participate in changing it.

This week my (youngest) daughter has to take mandatory state testing. The school made this big deal about "making sure your child is on time and has had a good breakfast." They also said a snack would be provided between tests. This morning my daughter told me the snack that was handed out yesterday was sugar cookies and Junior Mints. This didn't set too well with me. Give a kid a bunch of sugar and them tell them "Okay! Sit down and focus on this test for two hours. WOW! I called the principal and shared my concerns, and told him that in my opinion, a protein snack might be a better choice for the kids, to which he said he thought they had also had milk. (Which my child will not drink because of all the added hormones, but I let that go.) I then added that I didn't know about him, but given a choice, most of us would go for the yummy tasting candy over the nutritious milk any day, and maybe in the testing environment offering candy was not the best thing to be doing. I went on to inform him that I had sent a more appropriate snack for my daughter, and would appreciate his facilitating her having it if the teachers gave her a hard time about having something not handed out by them. In addition, I offered to send in healthy snacks to replace the candy. (And that the candy might be handed out at the END of the testing. Okay! I know it is a food reward, but keep your eye on the big picture here.)

I am pretty sure that my name is well known around the school, though not necessarily in a postive way. That evil part of me kind of likes this fact. I think that actually I am good practice for them. Because I am a parent, they have to listen to my concerns, and say all the appropriate things, even when they really just want to get me off the phone, and get on with their day. The vice-principal got off easy today, I just called him. Last time something like this happen I printed off a bunch of articles on nutrition and made him read them and get back with me to discuss them. Pretty creative hu? They may be sad to see my child graduate, but probably not as much as they will be happy to have me out of their hair. Maybe I should be grooming another parent with younger children...... Mmmmmm..... Who do I know with kindergartners?.........