There are so many areas of grey I can't see for the clouds.
You have got to be kidding. Constraints vary in degree in each situation, again, you are not defining and that what my question was all about.
How many minutes of being creative and imaginative do you need for free time? Just like no one dares put down how much time a mother should spend with their child to make quantity not quality the issue -- too political.
Val, I dare you to write an exact amount of free time a child needs so they can be creative and imaginative. And then tell me what the correlational positive results form that amount of time. Just like 9 months of breastfeeding gives you all the benefits. They have found after 9 months, the additional positive benefits drop off like a rock off a cliff....
Ren
Ahh, Wren. I think you're taking things far too literally. The whole point of being creative and imaginative is that the tangibles and constraints that you want to define don't apply.
The amount of time needed varies from person to person and it can't be precisely defined. But by "a lot" in my first post (to answer ColinsMum), I meant, frequently enough that it's a normal part of life, and long enough to let something develop.
This question isn't political. Creativity is, simply, freeform. I suspect that people who aren't creative can't understand that concept. It may seem as alien as
red is to someone who's colorblind (or, should I say,
red?). Unlike colorblindness, I expect it can be developed (at least a bit) if people slow down a bit and let it happen.
Creativity and imaginative thinking can't be scheduled, forced, or planned. They just happen. They are spontaneous.
And for them to happen, you need free time AND you can't be too stressed out or too busy. This, for me, at least, is the core of my argument against the hyper-parenting you and Amy Chua advocate. When nearly every moment has to be productive, there is no room for imagination, new ideas, and creativity. There's simply too much mental clutter to allow it.
I don't know you; perhaps you aren't a very creative person. That's okay; I'm not judging! BUT, it's important to realize that one or more of your kids might be creative. I see creativity as an extremely important ability that needs to be nurtured.
In the way of studies, there have been research studies regarding creativity, and from what I've read, they've found that it's an important trait. Google the terms and if you can't find anything, PM me.
Val
