Today's world is not such a friendly place for a child who has not excelled in school or sports. It seems like we are always looking for something we can do better than everyone else. That will help define us in life.

I wonder back to a time that it was ok just to be who I was. I didn't have to run faster, hit harder or sing better than anyone else. I just had to do my best and that was good enough.

I think we often get caught up in the rush of what is popular and we lose sight of what is most important.

As a parent I have tried to let my kids define who they are. Then with all that is in me I have tried to encourage them to do what they are best at. I want them to be happy and well rounded individuals and know that what is most important to me is their personal happiness.

My son Joe Joe was very good at electronic and anything with a computer. One night he made a fan out of one battery and a paper clip and some tape. When we got our first computer he helped me figure life out on the net.

My daughter Stacey was good at sleeping. She also had good parenting skills. It did not surprise me at all when she ended up being a floor manager for WalMart. As well as a good mother to her two sons.

Billy was the really talented one. He could sit down and draw anything. But faces was his mark on the soul. He seemed to capture the essence of a person with how he drew their face.

April is good at a lot of stuff. She loves kids and they seem to adore her back. She has a great love for music and a good ear for what is good and what is not. However she can't sing or play anything for the life of her.

Paige takes after Billy. By the age of 18 months she was on the computer playing toddler games. By the age of two she was building designs upward off of paper with tape and anything else she could find.

She loves drawing but she hates to color. She is a more direct sketch artist. But she dabbles in everything. She is just now ready to turn 8 so she has a lot of life time to define her desires.

What are your children good at? How can you encourage them to strive to perfect what they like to do? By encouraging them in the areas they are good at you sometimes help build a life long self esteem.

I try to encourage the kids to try a little bit of everything. Just like building a delight for what type of foods they prefer. We all find our way by trying things and then finding places to use those skills in our daily life.

It is all in the process of creating A Life Of Our Own. Building our personalities and our intuitions. From the games we enjoy playing to the songs we like to listen to on the radio. We choose our own path. It is all a part of healthy emotional and physical growth.

Learning your child and encouraging them in the fields they seem to be best at is a step into positive parenting.