I saw this beautiful and simple idea for displaying some more greenery (cause I don’t already have enough! Ha!) several months ago on Aiken House and Garden and I’ve been thinking about doing it ever since.
So that’s where the idea started. But it kind of collided with another idea along the way.
I have a really creative kid. In my opinion all kids (and people) are creative for sure, but mine seems to really need to create something every day. Or several times a day. I get this and I get her. She gets all the little bits of crazy in her personality from me, after all.
So often I end up with a recycling bin torn apart and strewn across the house or a kid in mental anguish because her crazy far-fetched idea for a project just isn’t working out and she wants me to fix it for her. A lot of the time she just wants me to come up with the idea for her. She wants to make something badly, but has no idea where to begin.
I’ve felt like I needed to have a pre-planned activity or craft everyday all set up and ready to go sometimes, just to get a little peace in the house and to fulfil her need to make something. Of course I fought back against that idea, thinking it would just be a little too over-the-top in terms of catering to her and also, don’t real kids just run off and play for hours and want nothing to do with their parents? Isn’t that what I’m supposed to be teaching her to do? Tough love baby, tough love.
But then I got thinking, is it really worth all the stress and fighting and tantrum throwing just to make it look like we’re at least trying to turn her into one of those kids? Isn’t she going to be one of those kids soon enough anyway? If having some little fun project to create together will really calm her down that much, isn’t it worth a try? Hmm, come to think of it, maybe that’s something I could use too.
Sometimes we feel like we can’t “spoil” our kids because if we give, give, give, then we’ll have nothing left and be exhausted and crabby and all that. But what if we’re just really very much like our kids and we give them what they need, and then just do the same thing for ourselves? So rather than trying to make her entertain herself so I can have a little “me” time, I’ve started planning a little craft each day, with the help of Pinterest, and then I’m planning another for my own “creative time” a little later on at night. All set up and ready to go. Like I’m in pre-school or something. Having it set up for you by your mom just makes it more fun when you’re a kid, and when you’re a grown up too.
And the mittens were my first little project. And I love it.
