Lego creativity

     Do you ever feel completely clueless?  I do sometimes, maybe a lot.  Sometimes I even feel stupid, ssh, don't tell my kids I used that word, it's not allowed.  I'm trying to have a growth mindset, but sometimes I just feel like my brain is broken.  The other day we were sitting listening to Treasure Island on audio book.  Benjamin doesn't enjoy reading as much as the rest of us and sometimes he puts up a fight over it.  To encourage him to listen to Treasure Island with us I brought out Legos and asked him if he wanted to build a pirate ship.  That got him to sit and listen to not just one chapter, but three chapters, he didn't want to stop.  Legos is one of the areas that I feel like I am seriously lacking in skills. You may think it silly, but I am very ashamed that I have never felt like I was good at Legos.  I remember building with my brother and he is over there making cars and ships and I'm like "I built a brick wall!"  I don't let my kids quite, I don't let them say they aren't good at something and leave it there, I encourage them and I challenge them.  The last year I have also been really trying to educate myself too, so I applied the same rule.  I asked Benjamin the other night as we sat building pirate ships and I felt my mind go blank "Do you think I would be more skilled if I practiced?" and he said "yes."  Today when the boys were building with Legos I sat down and I started building too.  Almost immediately I felt that familiar sensation of my mind shutting down because I didn't know what to do, why do I do that?  I held two Lego pieces and I didn't even know how to put them together.  Then I remembered that little round piece that goes on the bottom and I grabbed it, but that made my boat round and I wanted it long.  I grabbed a few more pieces, quickly discarding the idea of having a boat all the same color.  Then I started building up the sides, I made a few changes to make it look like a railing.  I added a cannon and a couple of guns.  I wanted a figurehead, but that was far beyond what I could do so I just closed that end up.  Benjamin made me a little pirate man and all I needed was a mast.  I figured out how to make two short pieces longer for my mast and even found a flag. At one point I asked Benjamin to help me, he was my mentor.  I still feel childish and stupid, but I also feel insanely proud of my little pirate ship.
     There are a lot of areas that I feel totally lost in, math, chemistry, electricity, music, just about anything involving computers.  My brain starts to shut down, just like when someone starts giving me directions. I nob like I understand, but I'm really just trying to figure out what language they are speaking.  But you know what?  One of the most beautiful truths I have learned on this homeschooling journey is that our education never ends.  It didn't end when I finished high school or even after college, I am always learning.  I'm pushing myself, finding areas where I am lacking, like Legos, art, and math, and trying so hard to learn and do them better.  I find myself learning as I teach my kids, and I find myself being taught by them.  Benjamin teaches me how to build with Legos and how electricity works, Glen is teaching me the finer points of writing comics and he has a million facts about animals to share.  I know that Heavenly Father wants us to learn all that

we can and I am grateful for the opportunity to teach and learn every day!