I've spent these last few weeks in activities involving family, both from my side and from my ex-husband's side. I'm grateful that I have wonderful in-laws, easy to get along with and just basically really nice people. Now, Amal sees my family more because I happen to live with my parents and unfortunately, Amal's grandparents from his Dad's side live quite far from Jakarta. And I think that has to do with the fact that he's not yet quite aware of his Dad's family. He knows his grandparents but he hasn't grasped that the other people he meets are his uncle, aunts and cousins :)
So, inspired by a family tree I had made with my cousin back in 1996, I decided to sit down with Amal and create his family tree and here it is:
- Cardboard paper
- Markers
- Watercolors paint & paintbrush
- Tom & Jerry labels
I started by drawing a huge tree in the middle of the cardboard paper and Amal filled the tree with watercolor paint. While we waited for the paint to dry, we wrote down the names of the different family members we have in our family (I had to help a bit!). We then put Amal's name in the center of the tree and just sort of went from there to fill in all the other members of the family.
Et voila!
I personally believe all kids should know their roots, good or bad. It helps to know where you came from. Not only that, I like the saying "Blood is thicker than water" meaning that bonds of family are thicker than those with unrelated people. Families aren't always easy but they do help to understand certain things about yourself :)
