Sedona and Maven have been going to Chinese class twice a week for a nearly a year (with a woman they call "Nai-Nai," Mandarin for paternal grandmother; she is the wife of their tennis instructor who likes them calling him "Ye-Ye" for paternal grandfather). Tennis and Chinese have been staples in their lives, and they still enjoy going to both -- especially tennis for Sedona in recent months.
"Nai-Nai" took the kids to an art class next door to her Pyramid Academy classrooms in Torrance for a twist on the usual curriculum, and it turned out to be a most interesting experience. Afterward, she and the art teacher, who also has a degree in psychology, noted the plain difference in the way Sedona, nearly 6, and Maven, 4, went about the painting assignment.
The art teacher said it was consistent with clinical studies of elder and younger children -- including in her own family -- where the elder is raised by more careful, structured parenting and the younger comes up in a more relaxed, worry-free atmosphere from no-longer-rookie parents.
Sedona was very results-oriented, worried about how everything she did would look and turn out. Maven just went for it and was "fearless" in trying things even before the teacher told them what to do next. The paintings are striking in their ultimate contrast, with one very clear and discernible (except for the creation of the sun and that one piece of seaweed that amused Sedona to have rising up) and the other far more natural and wilder (unfortunately even with Maven misspelling her own name and then starting over to the left). It was an interesting psychological lesson in parenting our kids and a reminder to strive for respective balances while letting them be who they want to be.
Which painting you prefer might tell you a something about yourself, too!
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