I usually don’t think of myself as someone who is creative. After
reading this week’s chapter on creativity, I realized that at times I can be
very creative. One example of my creativity from my own experience has to do
with work. I am a nanny/babysitter and at times I will watch kids of friends of
the families that I usually nanny for. I will briefly meet with the parents
beforehand and then be thrown into full force with the kids while the parents
leave, since they feel like they can trust me and I get recommended from the families
that I nanny for. When this happens, I have met the kids for about 10mins and
their parents’ leave, so they aren’t used to me. I have to come up with ways to
distract them so that they don’t realize their parents leave. I have had to
think quick and come up with games or I will at times use my phone to pull up Youtube videos to distract them. It can be hard when they cry but I can at
times be very creative and get that to stop quickly and the kids warm up to me
and we have fun. The books mentions that “Creativity is the result of looking
at things and seeing them in a new way, synthesizing two or more previously
unrelated phenomena or modifying something that already exists”(Harris &
Sherblom, 2011). I feel like I can fit into that description, and become
creative, even when I don’t think I am.
Hey Roro,
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to your post! I used to be a nanny for almost a year and a half, and I babysat occasionally on the side for extra money. It can be kind of weird for both the kids and yourself when you have to be in charge and watch them, when you guys are used to each other yet. I used to do the same as you, I would have to think of a game to play or a different way to do introductions with the kids so that they would feel safe, open up to me, and listen to me. That is definitely a creative process and it's not easy to do off the top of your head.
- Raya
Hey Roro! Sometimes I feel as if I am not very creative as well. But I believe that we are all creative because we tend to have to get creativity sometimes with our daily lives. I was never really a nanny or a babysitter but I was a teacher assistant for first graders for the past couple of summers. In a way I guess that is like kind of like babysitting. There are times when they would get bored in class and as a T.A I had to go up to them and think of a way to make what they are doing seem interesting again. There are also times when I have to think of new games to play while they are waiting for their teachers to show up. This gets them excited and is more likely to pay attention to the next teacher too. Anyways, good job this week on this post!
ReplyDeleteHello Roro,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that you did a great job! You talked about how at first you didn’t think you were a very creative person but then realized that you are. I think it is great that you realized that have more creativity. Working with kids can be really hard because their attention is always diverting to different things. I can agree that trying to come up with creative ways to keep them preoccupied and having fun involves trying to come up with new, interesting ideas. It seems that you did a good job with keeping them happy and having fun. Nice job with your response.
I totally sympathize with the idea that kids need to be distracted from knowing that their parents are leaving. You can't just tell kids that their parents are leaving and expect them to feel fine, they would break down in fear because the people that make them feel safe are getting farther away from them. I often had to do that for my nephews and niece, if any of them saw their mom or dad leave the door they would wait like a vulture around the door waiting for them to return (except instead of flying around they're crying like crazy). To block a child's view as they hear the door close behind their parents will just let the child's curiosity run wild, kids can be cynical and assume the worst when they are unsure of something (which is in this case their parents leaving them behind). Distracting them to get them not to think about the worst is the best idea. Good post!
ReplyDelete