We had always known we would homeschool and we have always felt that all children are gifted in different subjects or areas. As such, my husband and I have always assumed the responsibility to help our daughter figure out her where she was gifted. So, as I sat there that day on the floor of the library listening to these two mothers I could not help but wonder, was my kid gifted in cutting with scissors?

Surely this did not seem like a gift but as I listened the mothers continued to lament about the scissor situation and so I decided to offer an idea. I shared how when our daughter was between 2 and 3, I would give her a bucket of scrap paper and a very, very dull pair of plastic scissors and she would proceed to rip and cut the paper into different designs. I showed her how to use the scissors, what not to do with the scissors and how to carry the scissors, even though they couldn’t have stabbed anything. Then left her to her own accord to cut and rip as she was seriously engrossed in the activity. (While the scissors moved properly they were so dull that often she would be lucky if she got one decent cut out of them.)

This usually entertained her for 30 minutes or so. Then she would present me with cut/ripped paper and declare it to be a shape of something or other. Dutifully, I would hang it on my office cork board and date it as our daughter looked on smiling. This cutting and ripping continued once or twice a month. As she got older she got a metal pair of dull scissors, then a metal pair of pointed scissors and so on.

The mothers both politely listened and then one said, “Yea, but then it just makes such a mess.” The other mother responded, “I agree. I don’t have time to clean up more things.”

At that moment I had a flash of insight as though a bolt of lightening had just hit in front of me. I realized that my child wasn’t gifted in cutting with scissors; I just wasn’t more concerned about how the house looked than in giving our daughter the opportunity to learn and make a mess.

As I tried to stay calm, because I couldn’t believe that someone would not give a child the opportunity to learn because they might make a mess, I pointed out that the mess actually presented another learning activity. Cleaning up! I explained that each time after our daughter was done, I would make a game of cleaning up the paper and our daughter would participate as she was expected to do.

At this point, the mothers gave me a bewildering look. It was then that I realized that someone so concerned about their appearance, including their home, did not care to take the time to teach their child or allow them to learn on their own. I don’t know whatever happened to those mothers and children but it did reaffirm in my mind that a perfect home is not nearly as important as a child that learns to experiment, even if it makes a mess. After all, the second lesson of learning that it is their responsibility to clean up is a lesson as a parent I most enjoy today!