What can us as parents do to enhance our children’s creativity so they are better equipped to face our competitive world?

1. Provide both the materials and conditions that will encourage creativity.   When we leave our children glued to the computer or TV, they become well trained isolationists.  As many of you know, I grew up in an isolated Nigerian wilderness.  We had few toys.  I complained to my father that there was nothing to do.  He took me outside and said, “Look at that mango tree!  I’d love that ripe mango at the very top up there.  Wouldn’t it be interesting if there were an enemy in that other mango tree and all they had as weapons were mangos?  I bet someone could swing from one tree to the next, hiding from the enemy.  Where are your brothers?”  For weeks my father always had the biggest, ripest mangos and you would not believe the stories of World War 3 that my brothers and I told at the supper table.
2. Be open to creativity yourself, looking for ways to communicate it to your children. I remember sitting with my mother looking at all the used cards and old magazines her friends from home had sent her.  She would make new cards for a leprosy patient she was treating by cutting and pasting pictures together.  Soon my parents had cards tucked under their pillows.  My father would take us hunting for guinea hens.  We could hear the hens calling from a long ways away, but they were hard to find.  We learned they hardly flew more than 5 meters off the ground and for only 100 meters.  When the hit the ground, they would run for about 10 meters.  We learned to anticipate quickly where they would hide.  And we usually came home with meat for supper.
3. Expose your children to different, contrasting cultural stimuli. Our church, the Cochabamba International Church, has families from the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Australia’s.  Families attending are from Catholic and varying Evangelical church backgrounds.  What a great opportunity to prepare our children to the interesting cultures of the world community.
4. Help your children develop tolerance for views different from their own. There is a difference between tolerance and acceptance.  It is our responsibility to train our children to have strong, uncompromising principles that guide their choices.  Tolerance says, “I understand and can respect your convictions and cultural background.”  This allows your child to work wisely in a multi-cultural world community.

None of us are perfect as individuals – nor are our marriages perfect.  As we work together to maintain our love and a strong marriage, our homes will be a good environment for growing and happy children.