i have a friend who does all sorts of stuff with her kids on a regular basis that makes the rest of us look bad. she makes dyed noodle necklaces, she sewed life-size dolls with her kids and let them dress the dolls like themselves, she hosts sock puppet shows, they paint, they bedazzle... you name it my friend sarah does it with her kids on a regular basis and loves every minute of it. she doesn't boast about these crafty projects, but when you go to her home, you see the evidence. and it tugs at your guilty strings just a little bit.
i'm a different sort of momma. i want my kiddos to have all of these same experiences, just not always in my home or on my watch (just keeping it real folks). whenever i come up with some little crafty idea, almost as soon as my creative juices get going my "mess instinct" kicks in and takes over and cancels the plan.
but today, creativity won.
it was a small effort, but something that i thought would be fun for the girls to do: we made play dough. (i know, big gasp as i revel my bold steps towards embracing art with my girls. baby steps, people, baby steps.) you'd think this wouldn't be such a big deal for a former teacher, especially one that did all sorts of messy projects in my classroom.
e pulled a chair up to the counter and d sat on the counter. and in the process of putting a few simple ingredients into a bowl and stirring, all kinds of havoc broke out. i kid you not, d cried the ENTIRE time. d being d wanted to do it all. sharing was not in her plan and you could just forget about "mommy do it".
and then we sat down at the table. in spite of the fact that we play with store bought play dough regularly, they loved every minute of it. they molded and shaped, rolled and designed for a good 45 minutes. it was adorable.
and then when we were finished, i began to hyperventilate a little. the mess was huge! it literally took a good 30 minutes to clean up after the fun... (which is why i resist these activities in the first place). and i walked away torn. do i give in to my "inner sarah" for the experience or should i just sign them up for art classes at the local park district? the verdict is still out.
"mother of the year"- probably not.
3 comments:
DONT give up!!! Embrace your inner Sarah!!! Just limit kids to 4-5 things to use with playdoh. Then clean up will be a snap!! This looks like fun fun fun!!!
I love it!!! I have a child sized broom and a dust buster and the kids love cleaning up almost as much as making the mess in the first place. Deep breaths. Set yourself up by knowing that it will be messy and glorious!!
They're little faces look so excited! Love your honesty.
Let your inner Sarah win!
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