J is for Jumping in/Joining In: Building Skills

Short and sweet!  Just join in.  If you want to grow as a person, you need to develop your skills and the best way to do that is to just join in when you have the opportunity to try new, positive things.  Standing on the sidelines can teach you a lot but the more senses you engage, the more your brain is able to process and learn from the activity.  Even if it doesn't go as well as planned or you do not actually enjoy the process, you still learn so much more by doing than by simply observing.

If you take the example of travel to a foreign country, a book smart person may have a good understanding of the history, geography and sites to be seen during the trip.  However, a guide who can walk you through the sights and sounds and knows from experience interacting with the people which locations are safest or offer the best value is more helpful.  When you travel you do not want to sit in your hotel room but you want to meet the people and experience the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the land.  When you physically walk through the streets and utilize all your senses the depth of your experience is much richer.

Just jumping in also makes me think of the polar plunge or cliff diving. These are not things I am personally inclined to do.  Jumping in a pool is more my comfort zone and yet I acknowledge that I miss out on a lot based on this reticence. Within reason, it is good not to let fear dictate what we do.  In a more naturalistic expression, when you walk into a room of people or are asked to share something publicly, fear often prevents people from speaking freely. It makes them nervous to openly communicate but moving past that and sharing with others enriches their life as well as your own.

As for interacting with the children in your life, it is ideal to just jump in and join them in their play.  Spend time with them doing the things that they find interesting. Do they want to stop and smell the roses? You should smell them too. Do they want to linger on a page of a book just to soak in the details of the illustrations? Ask them what they see/what is interesting to them and comment on what you see as well. If your child wants to skip rope, jump in with them.  If they want to play The floor is Lava, then yes, you can facilitate it but the memories and bonding will be greatly heightened if you actually join in the game with them.  Your participation enriches their experience and gives them so much more input.  

If it is an infant in your care, then mirror their expressions and sounds and then encourage them to copy what you do.  Let them practice new things and then shape their practice to expand their skills.  Eat while they eat. Get on the floor and play with them.  Play at their level then add a step in.  By joining in their play, they learn that you care and are interesting because you like the same things.  Then when you try to introduce them to something new, they are more likely to think it may be something they like too and to jump in and try it.  At a minimum, it is a way to spend quality time with them that builds bonds.

If we model fear, people around us learn fear.  If we model that it is great to try new things, and then how to handle the situation when the new thing is more or less than we had hoped, it is a helpful example for them to learn from.  We want them to explore the world and to expand their horizons.  Setting the example through our own actions is therefore very meaningful.  Furthermore, by enriching our own lives, we are enriching the lives of others too. 

It is a new year as I write this but it doesn't matter what day it is because every day is a good day to jump in and try something new and every day is the right day to join in with your child in what they are doing. Come alongside them and walk with them.  Seeing the world in a new way through the eyes of a child is a tremendous gift that is offered to you.  Enjoy it!