Part II Raising Can Do Kids – Identifying the gifts through understanding AM

Written by Teresa MI Schaefer. PhD

In part I of Raising Can Do Kids I identified The Little Engine that Could as a favorite text I use in therapy. Another therapy favorite is Hooray for Me! Different from The Little Engine book, Hooray for Me! is less about CAN and more about AM: I am me...I am my mother and father’s [child]…I am my cousin’s cousin…I am my dog’s walker… I am my shadow’s shadow…I am my dream’s dreamer.

I love this book, in particular, because of how beautifully, yet simply, it conveys the absolute sense that each of us is the whole of SOOOOO VERY MANY component parts/relationships/skills/talents/strengths/weaknesses…

In Part I, I concluded with the questions: What are your child’s strengths? How can you shine the spotlight on these abilities?

Hooray for Me! can aide us in identifying the positive qualities of our children. We can ask:

Who are they in relation to others? A son, a daughter, a brother/sister, a granddaughter/son, cousin, niece/nephew, a student, a neighbor?

What do they do? Are they an artist, a dreamer, a bouncer, an eater, a runner, a climber, a reader, a builder, a taker-aparter?

What are they good at? Are they a mathematician, an advanced pianist, an amazing dancer, a lover of pets, a moon-bounce master?

Who are they on a sensory/emotional level? Are they hands-on-snuggly or hands-off- goo-phobic? High-spirited, enthusiastic, bubbling over? Or serene, quiet, contemplative? Cheery or serious? Curious, inventive, passive?

Hooray for them, each one of them, whatever they are!

Imagine a book about your child that describes all of these ways in which they can say I AM! If you are one of those creative AMs, make one. If not, that's OK, talk with your child about all of the many ways in which they exist in this world.

Again, Hooray for them, each one of them, whatever they are!