I had a realization today – nothing pushes me over the edge faster than crafts and I should just stop trying.
For some reason I have continued to allow myself to believe that in order for me to be a good mother that I must do crafts with my children. It doesn’t matter that doing craft projects turns me into a frustrated, manic freak – it’s what good moms do. Right?
Here’s the scene for today…
It’s the first day of spring break and the kids are already bored. So we take a field trip to Hobby Lobby to find a craft for the 3 of them.
We start out the adventure through Hobby Lobby with Taryn straddling one side of the cart making it terribly lopsided, giving me visions of it toppling into the towering display of glass bottles. She says to me, “Do you know why I’m sitting like this, Mommy?” -- “No, please tell me Taryn” – “To hold my pee in.”
Why is it that the minute I enter any large store the first thing my kids must do is use the bathroom in the farthest corner. Anyway – 15 minutes later we are back on our mission to find a craft. Carter successfully picks out a wooden bird house and Paige some letters -- all of which need to be painted. We find the right paint for wood (non-washable!!!!) and are almost on our way. All Taryn wants is a glass jar to put stickers on and lotion in (I’m thinking I can handle that craft).
As we arrive home around 5:30, I realize Paige needs to be somewhere by 6:30 – I need to get her supper and be on our way in a half an hour – yet Carter and Taryn feel they must do their crafts right away!!! I talk Taryn out of it – but Carter moves forward with his craft – the paint is out, the neighbor boy and girl are hovering “Can we paint too, Can we paint too?” -- all this activity on my kitchen counter where I am trying to make supper – I am proud of myself for keeping my cool while Carter paints his first coat.
After supper – craft time starts in earnest. Carter is now painting at the dinning room table. He has out two colors of paint and 15 brushes – all covered in paint. Why he needs 15 brushes for one little birdhouse is beyond me. Taryn’s lotion project turns into mixing lotion in a plastic baggie with glitter and scented oil (as the craft magazine suggests).
Within two minutes Taryn has exploded the bag of lotion and it is oozing all over her, me, the table, the floor, and the chair. At the same time, Carter has managed to set his elbow in the NON-WASHABLE paint.
However, this mess doesn’t seem to phase either one of them, they have moved on from their crafts and are both asking me for food. “Mom can you slice me an apple and warm up some caramel sauce and I’m thirsty.” “Mommy, can you slice all of the sections of a grapefruit for me – oh and I’m thirsty too.” Seriously! They just ate supper. (Although – I am impressed with the ‘healthy snacks’ they were requesting!)
But by now I’m over the edge – covered in lotion and trying to keep paint from spreading. I yell -- “I am only one person – how do you expect me to clean up both of your messes and get you both food – you expect me to do everything around here. You can get your own ice water – or just wait. This is why I HATE crafts.”
When I get done with my tirade, I sincerely hope it didn’t sound as harsh as I felt – but I’m not sure. However, my kids don’t seem phased by my explosion which either means – it didn’t sound as bad as I thought – or they are used to it.
I often wonder if God uses these situations to try to teach me patience – I spend time reflecting afterwards that I fall ridiculously short in managing my frustration. My kids deserve a mom that doesn’t “lose it” during craft time.
OR is God trying to teach me wisdom – is He telling me – Jen you can’t do it all – stick with what doesn’t make you crazy – your kids will survive without a craft. And they might even thrive with a happy mom.
I seriously don’t know which lesson I am supposed to learn, but for tonight I pick:
No More Crafts = Happy Jen.
Then I wake up the next morning and see Carter’s red, white and blue bird house sitting on the table with the words “Welcome Birds” spelled out in his precious 8 year-old handwriting and I’m not so sure anymore.
For some reason I have continued to allow myself to believe that in order for me to be a good mother that I must do crafts with my children. It doesn’t matter that doing craft projects turns me into a frustrated, manic freak – it’s what good moms do. Right?
Here’s the scene for today…
It’s the first day of spring break and the kids are already bored. So we take a field trip to Hobby Lobby to find a craft for the 3 of them.
We start out the adventure through Hobby Lobby with Taryn straddling one side of the cart making it terribly lopsided, giving me visions of it toppling into the towering display of glass bottles. She says to me, “Do you know why I’m sitting like this, Mommy?” -- “No, please tell me Taryn” – “To hold my pee in.”
Why is it that the minute I enter any large store the first thing my kids must do is use the bathroom in the farthest corner. Anyway – 15 minutes later we are back on our mission to find a craft. Carter successfully picks out a wooden bird house and Paige some letters -- all of which need to be painted. We find the right paint for wood (non-washable!!!!) and are almost on our way. All Taryn wants is a glass jar to put stickers on and lotion in (I’m thinking I can handle that craft).
As we arrive home around 5:30, I realize Paige needs to be somewhere by 6:30 – I need to get her supper and be on our way in a half an hour – yet Carter and Taryn feel they must do their crafts right away!!! I talk Taryn out of it – but Carter moves forward with his craft – the paint is out, the neighbor boy and girl are hovering “Can we paint too, Can we paint too?” -- all this activity on my kitchen counter where I am trying to make supper – I am proud of myself for keeping my cool while Carter paints his first coat.
After supper – craft time starts in earnest. Carter is now painting at the dinning room table. He has out two colors of paint and 15 brushes – all covered in paint. Why he needs 15 brushes for one little birdhouse is beyond me. Taryn’s lotion project turns into mixing lotion in a plastic baggie with glitter and scented oil (as the craft magazine suggests).
Within two minutes Taryn has exploded the bag of lotion and it is oozing all over her, me, the table, the floor, and the chair. At the same time, Carter has managed to set his elbow in the NON-WASHABLE paint.
However, this mess doesn’t seem to phase either one of them, they have moved on from their crafts and are both asking me for food. “Mom can you slice me an apple and warm up some caramel sauce and I’m thirsty.” “Mommy, can you slice all of the sections of a grapefruit for me – oh and I’m thirsty too.” Seriously! They just ate supper. (Although – I am impressed with the ‘healthy snacks’ they were requesting!)
But by now I’m over the edge – covered in lotion and trying to keep paint from spreading. I yell -- “I am only one person – how do you expect me to clean up both of your messes and get you both food – you expect me to do everything around here. You can get your own ice water – or just wait. This is why I HATE crafts.”
When I get done with my tirade, I sincerely hope it didn’t sound as harsh as I felt – but I’m not sure. However, my kids don’t seem phased by my explosion which either means – it didn’t sound as bad as I thought – or they are used to it.
I often wonder if God uses these situations to try to teach me patience – I spend time reflecting afterwards that I fall ridiculously short in managing my frustration. My kids deserve a mom that doesn’t “lose it” during craft time.
OR is God trying to teach me wisdom – is He telling me – Jen you can’t do it all – stick with what doesn’t make you crazy – your kids will survive without a craft. And they might even thrive with a happy mom.
I seriously don’t know which lesson I am supposed to learn, but for tonight I pick:
No More Crafts = Happy Jen.
Then I wake up the next morning and see Carter’s red, white and blue bird house sitting on the table with the words “Welcome Birds” spelled out in his precious 8 year-old handwriting and I’m not so sure anymore.
Jen: I'm sure I know the lesson: You have terrific kids because you're a terrific--albeit flawed--mom. The sheer innocence and guilelessness of Carter's "Welcome Birds" says it all. It's worth a stained table, stained clothes and whatever else was paint tainted.
ReplyDeleteKeep telling the stories.
from gardener-dave