Creating a Great Childhood

I volunteered at our area Art Center this past weekend: Santa came to visit and kids could have their picture taken for a fee that supports Spiva's work. While they waited for their picture to develop, they came upstairs to decorate a picture frame that would house the photo.

It was so much fun to see young parents and their kids working together to create a masterpiece. I would remind them to put the year on the back of the frame so that they would always remember this experience. Some kids sat at the table for as long as 30 minutes, intent on designing just the right 'look' for their frame!

As I watched them with only the crayons, markers and stickers, I found myself wondering "when does this stop being enough and the desire for material posessions kick in?" And in that moment, I found myself mourning my own childhood, long gone.

My dad was the one who helped me create covers for my history reports and we had a blast designing the mailbox to hold my Valentines the next year. Though he died when I was quite young, those are still memories I have and remember.

I hope all kids these days get to have those experiences and build those memories for their futures, too.