The Gift of Imagination (and Happy Boy Mom Book Birthday!) Episode 66, With my Son, Josiah Swanson
Welcome to a VERY SPECIAL episode of the Boy Mom Podcast!
As this week marks the ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY of my book, BOY MOM 🎉 , it seemed appropriate for me to invite my first born son, Josiah, to join me on the podcast! I let Josiah choose what topic he’d like to talk about and without any hesitation he said…
IMAGINATION!!
Imagination has been a big part of Josiah’s life since…well, either of us can remember. In this episode, Josiah shares some highlights from his childhood memories of hanging out in his imagination (a lot!), and then goes on to tell how imagination has looked in his later teen and young-adult years. Although we live in a time where there are more distractions from imagination than ever (😢), Josiah encourages parents to make this a high priority for our kids! (I know I’m working on it with my youngest!) I loved this conversation so much, I hope you do, too!
Bonus! Josiah wrote a fascinating post about imagination on his website,and he created TWO printables for all of you! (One for each of the ages/stages we talk about in this interview.) Find links to everything in notes below:
SHOW NOTES:
Josiah’s article on Imagination (it’s so interesting!)
The Story Building template Josiah created for our kids! 🙂
The Mastermind Template for you to plan your own meeting!
Josiah’s website homepage: www.josiahswanson.com
The Novella that grew out of Josiah’s childhood imagination: SUB-MARINE
Josiah on Instagram: www.instagram.com/josiahswanson
The book that spurred on the (imaginary) Mastermind Group Idea: Think and Grow Rich.
Whether you have a student who loves to write, hates to write, or a student who has some special learning needs, you can find success with IEW. Try the free lessons at iew.com/monicaswanson
Also big thanks to SURFACE Sunscreen, Luke’s surfing sponsor, and my end-of-episode summer sponsor! Surface is offering a DISCOUNT to all Boy Mom listeners (USE CODE: BOY MOM for 20% everything on their site!) and they are offering a give- away BUNDLE of SURFACE Suncare PRODUCTS to one of you at the end of August!
Find out more about the amazing products Surface offers at their site. AND…Enter to win the August BUNDLE of Surface products at the VERY bottom of this post!
You can find the Boy Mom Podcast on all of the podcast platforms…here are just a few of them:
Or you can listen right here! 🙂
More about Josiah Swanson:
Josiah Swanson is a 21 year old student at Westmont college. He studies Data Analytics and Computer Science, and in his free time he loves to surf, skate, and use his imagination….
A photo from Joshua Tree National Park…from Josiah’s Instagram Feed. 😉
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Thanks for reading these show notes! If you enjoyed this episode, would you consider sharing it using social media links below!
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My book, BOY MOM, was released in August of 2019 (Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers) and is full of practical advice and helpful resources for raising boys. It’s a great study for small groups!
Order it here: Boy Mom: What Your Son Needs Most from You
*I am an Amazon Affiliate and some of the products I share will benefit me if you click through and purchase. Thank you so much!!
ENTER TO WIN A JULY BUNDLE OF SUNCARE PRODUCTS!! Leave a comment below answering the question:
Share one way you/your kids use your imagination! What are some ways you nurture imagination in your kids or in your own life? Leave a comment below and you’ll be entered to win the Surface Sunscreen Bundle! (Winner will be picked from all of the comments in podcast notes from the month of August!)
*I am an IEW affiliate and if you click through my link to their site and purchase, I will make a small portion of the proceeds (at no extra cost to you!) Thank you so much!!
Boymom of two and I am always encouraging them to go outside. I let them play in the mud when it rains and get told all the time from other moms that they can’t believe I let them do that. I feel that they NEED to do that. They need to learn that they are washable and need to find their own fun. My boys are great at making everything an adventure!
Hi Monica;
One way I nurture imagination in my son is to inspire him to bake. I love baking myself so he sees my enjoyment. Whenever he is craving for something I encourage him to try it at home. I teach that when is home made is better and tastes bette! I love to see his face of satisfaction when he is baking and everyone is enjoying his masterpiece!
The biggest thing I do for my boys is unstructured playtime and the freedom to take over most of our backyard with what they come up with. For my self it’s a bit more challenging. With a 6,4, 10month old, nurturing my imagination is lower on the priority list than I would like.