When our daughter was born, I had always thought there was
one thing missing; instructions. Stephanie Vlahov provides the most focused insights on how to cope with
exceptionally spirited children in her book The
Active, Creative Child: Parenting in Perpetual Motion.
Every child is unique, like each snowflake, but like
snowflakes they have more in common than differences. When an icicle appears, then you know you’re
dealing with something which sticks out from the crowd, like an active, creative
child; and that’s only the start. Stephanie writes mostly about her son, Alex, from the moment born having
energy noticeably higher than others and thus realizing he would require
exceptional parental channeling. Her
book is all about the events, stories, observations and the experience she
learned firsthand by raising her son throughout his formative years from a
baby, to a toddler, and into his adolescence.
Vlahov begins with 8 observations of who is the active
child? She categorizes the active child:
is a live wire from the get-go; that may not like to sleep; is willful and
spirited; may be misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD);
continually gets “into things;” and is different, extraverted and
introspectively creative. Each observation
is associated with a “bullet point” done graphically as a push-pin note, along
with a related story about her son and how she came to realize each of these
characteristics were unique to other “active children.” Next she lists 10 helpful hints on how to
deal (or in some cases, cope) with the active child. These generalizations are inspiring and fully
understandable to those encountering such challenges. I especially thought “Taking care of
yourself” was a clever hint as we all need to focus on our strength and health
in order to “be there” for our youngsters.
Stephanie Vlahov then changes the technique of her writing
from her definition section and begins a more classical explanation of methods
and suggestions on how best to deal with such highly spirited and awesomely
sensitive children. In the remainder of
her book she deals with issues of school, friends, and other family
members. With each she demonstrates a
skillful, conversational and non-pontificating way of explaining her wisdom
gained from her experiences. Her book is
further embellished with a section of very insightful suggested reading, plus
an index for reference.
The audience for her book is quite specific. I think there exists a large group, like me
(having our daughter now half way into her 3 year old splendor) and other
parents with active children between newborn and 10 years old. I believe the cover art shows a fraction of a
second of the life of Stephanie Vlahov’s son, defying gravity and seeking
stimulation with a facial expression of satisfaction – a truly lovely moment;
one the parent of an active child knows all so well. For those who have or know of ones with
active children, this book is what was missing from the baby bag when leaving
the hospital after delivery – the operator manual.
Buy this book at Amazon.com
