I am not crafty

Those who know me know that I have very few crafty bones in my body.  I like to pretend though.  I downloaded Pintrest on my phone-but I don’t know how to use it.  I buy “projects”-but I never open them.  I “try” new things-but usually don’t have great success.  I love Martha Stewart and Southen Living and admiring those more crafty than myself.  My own mother sews and quilts and my sisters are crafty too-I just didn’t get the genes.  Thing 1, my oldest daughter, is proving to be more creative than I so maybe she can teach me. I like to consider myself an academic-that makes me feel better about my lack of craftiness.  However, I do consider myself to be creative.  I like thinking up things!  And best of all, I love spending time with my kids being creative. We like to color and paint and use foamies. 

I was surprised last year when my daughter was the only one in her class with homemade Valentines.  I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with store bought Valentines, but I think it is something we tend to just buy without thinking.  Making them with my little girl was a lot of fun!  And now that she is 4 (such a big girl!), we have had even more fun this year making her Valentines.  What did we do?  I bought foam hearts and stickers and we went to town.  I did some and she did some on her own.  She wanted to personalize them but her teachers asked us not to, so she had me write “I love my friends” on all of them.  She was proud of her Valentines.

Making Valentines!

We usually create something every day, usually with construction paper and crayons and stickers.  Our masterpieces are everywhere and the den is constantly a mess, but it’s fun!  And the best part is, we are doing it together.  I read an article once that said we should spend 15 minutes of uninterrupted time a day with our kids.  I just don’t think that’s enough.  We watch our fair share of TV, but the bulk of our day is spent doing things together.  Eating 3 meals, playing outside, dressing up and dancing (=spinning in circles until you fall down) to Pandora (Daddy too), reading books (and more books and more books).

 

So, don’t fall into the trap of store bought everything.  Even if your version of craftiness is like mine (the items are store bought but you put them together in your own way), your child will appreciate the time you spend together. 

 

I will continue to be jealous of those crafty people in my life and maybe some of it will rub off on me.  Until then, I will get by and then let my daughter pass me up.

 

Maybe one day I will figure out Pintrest. Probably not.