Crafts

This, friends, is why I don't craft. 

This is why I complain here about making crafts. 

This is why I hate to craft. 

There is NOTHING crafty in my body. 

Given my own devices, with no instructions and a child dying to "do crafts", I come up with this:  Santa.  Out of brown cardboard.  With no pompoms the right color.  And markers that don't work. 

NATE, on the other hand, the man is crafty.  He takes red cups and makes them into a lobster with scary monster teeth and pipe cleaners that stick up with eyes on them (which have been removed for some reason in the past 3 days).  This, Z is proud to walk around with and show his teachers and friends and play with by himself.  My child is gifted like his Daddy is, but is left at home with me to work with him.  

Yet another reason I am incredibly grateful to have a husband who is an awesome Daddy. 

October Crafts

This is a bit late, mostly because I couldn't handle looking at it again. 

Z, of course, loves Halloween.  He also loves crafts.  I hate crafts.  I am not crafty in any way, shape or form.  Nate is, in a manly sort of way.  He is good at making stuff, building stuff, fixing stuff...using his hands.  So I know Z gets it honestly.  But seeing as how he is still a little boy, it is still crafty stuff.  Scissors, glue, yarn, beads, markers, construction paper, googly eyes...the whole 9 yards.  But here is why I hate crafts (among other reasons):  he has a picture in his brain of what he wants (or he sees a picture in a craft book), but he can't do it.  So not only do I have to go collect all of the stuff that he needs to do the crafts, but I also have to DO 90% of it.  He can't quite get the spider how he wants it. His hands aren't quite strong enough to cut the milk carton.  He doesn't quite have the coordination to thread the string through the hole.  And then I have to keep the little boys away from the crafts and the craft supplies...Makes me bonkers. 

But he loves them.  So I made a commitment at the beginning of October to be purposeful about doing crafts with him.  I got a few books out of the library on on Halloween crafts.  I collected even more stuff (tp and paper towel tubes, styrofoam balls, boxes, glitter glue).  And I tried, I really did, to do crafts with him.  I had originally thought I would do a craft a day, but that quickly deteriorated...there are 31 days in October, people!  It ended up being a craft every few days.  Sometimes I was lucky and someone else got to do it (if I could find a way to pawn that off, I did!).  There were several that "we" made that turned out terribly...for example, a bat mobile...it was just horribly ugly...but he still loved it. 

Here are a few of the pictures I took.  There are several that I didn't get pictures of (a bat mobile, a spider in a box, a mummy in a tube...those are a few I can think of offhand), and some I have already posted (like carving pumpkins, at least).  And the days I just refused, he normally drew pictures of all of the scary things he could think of.  We went through a lot of white paper and construtction paper!  He really had a good time doing all of them, and he toted the finished crafts all over the house for the entire month.  I am glad that I did them because he got such pleasure from doing them, but by the end of the month I was so done with crafts and so done with Halloween! 

Good Mom

I made the decision this morning to be a "good mom" (a selfless, actively involved, totally attentive, calm, patient, loving, smiling, magazine-type perfect mom...a ridiculous standard that I hold myself to, yet rarely reach) for the day.  It started when 2 of the little boys had fevers which meant our playdate plans were over.

So I was that mom...
The mom who made french toast for breakfast. 
The mom who happily encouraged (not nagged) her oldest son to get his chores done so he could watch TV later on. 
The mom who got the kids loaded up to run to the drugstore to get the biggest bottle of ibuprofin. 
The mom who got 2 store coupons for cheerios, found 2 more coupons for cheerios, and let the big boy pick out the type of cheerios he wanted (chocolate and honey nut) for 50 cents a box. 
The mom who came home and made pudding...it was even MY idea.   
The mom who set the little boys in their highchairs, dolloped some pudding on the trays, and gave them straws to eat it with, knowing full well what a mess would come from it. 

C was the biggest fan of the pudding

The mom who then figured, well, we're already a mess, so gave them real fingerpaints to play with, much to the joy of the big boy.  Again, against every bone in my body that saw the mess coming.  

L liked the fingerpaints the most.  In the words of Z, "L looks like a CLOWN!"

The mom who patiently repeated "no, that's not for eating" to 3 little boys. 
The mom who smiled and listened attentively to the big boy describing his fingerpainted picture.
The mom who calmly took the boys out of their chairs and gave them baths after they were done (at 11 am). 
The mom who asked the big boy to pick up the fingerpaints (and he did!). 
The mom who made grilled cheese for lunch (the griddle was still out, might as well), and fed them peas and blueberries and veggie straws to add to the health of it all. 
The mom who played games and wrestled and giggled with the boys. 
The mom who straightened up the basement (and patiently tried to teach the little boys how do help, against their nature)...I think every box was empty.
The mom who read for 30 solid minutes to the big boy when the little boys were down for a nap.
The mom who didn't clean up the mess, but focused on the boys, and figured I could clean up when they went down.  
The mom who didn't get on the computer all morning long. 
The mom who only talked on the phone for a few minutes while in the car.
The mom who didn't yell or have to punish kids. 
The mom who smiled and was patient. 

I'm exhausted...and naptime is almost over (which means my break is over).  I can't be a "good mom" every day...it is hard work!  But you know what?  The kids were great, Z was happy, and we had a very fun morning.   

Disclaimer:  I realize I am a "good mom" by other things I do, so no worries.  And I firmly belive, also, that leaving them up to their own entertainment (while I do other things that need to be done) is being a "good mom" as well.  I also know (as I stated above), that I have a ridiculous standard by which I measure myself...but it was nice to feel like I could be the "good mom" for at least a morning!