A Pinterest Truce for Christmas

I am not a crafty mom.  You know, that DIY mommy in your kid’s class or church group that is proficient in everything from upcycling soup cans to churning out free printables. The mom that makes her own kimonos out of scarves and tells you all about it. Yeah, I’m not her.

That isn’t to say I haven’t given “handprint art” a shot over the years. I may have even attempted to make crafting magic with pipe cleaners once upon a time.  But I have enjoyed mixed results, at best.  And, generally speaking, Pinterest projects are just not my forte. In fact, for me, Pinterest is more likely to yield angst than useful tidbits.  Sure, on some days I might score a slow-cooker recipe idea, but on others, all I get out of my scrolling is a bitter case of inferiority and a folder full of pinecone projects I will never get around to attempting.

So, no, I’m not crafty.  Scrapbooking and papier-mâché are not my spiritual gifts.  I can’t knit (although I held aspirations to do so for a hot minute), and I haven’t tried cross-stitch since 8th grade home ec class. If I could cross-stitch, though, I would immediately make myself one of these personalized family cross-stitch portraits. 

I mean, come on.  How adorable can you get? I don’t know StitchFellas from Adam, but I am kind of in love with these things.  I am fully on board with the cross-stitch portrait craze.

Not that I would ever pick up a needle and thread.  That is what you need to cross-stitch, right? 🙂

Even though I am firmly non-crafty, I somehow found myself at First Grade Craft Day this week.  See, the opportunities to spend time with my kiddos at school are becoming progressively fewer as they make their way up through the elementary school ranks.  There are fewer chaperones needed for field trips to the fire station.  Fewer carnival days.  Fewer calls for parents to read with groups of students during Readers’ Workshop hour.  It’s as though the school system is trying to peel the Band-Aid back slowly, year by year, helping us parents adjust to the fact that our children will eventually grow up and leave us entirely. 

But I’m not much for adjustment.  I’m more in the denial camp.  So I will jump on any opportunity to hang out with my kids at school, even if that opportunity comes with glue sticks and construction paper.  Heck, even if it comes with <shudder> glitter. So that’s how I ended up in Ryan’s class this week, making a Reindeer Christmas Countdown craft with 23 first-graders. 

It actually turned out pretty cute, all things considered (“all things” meaning the inept crafting leader – namely, moi).    And I think the kids had fun.  All they had to do was write the numbers 1 through 25 around the rim of a paper plate, then glue on eyes, a mouth, and a top hat (all of which I thoughtfully pre-cut for purposes of my own sanity) and pick out some stickers to decorate said hat. I then poked a hole through the plate and affixed the carrot nose via a gold brad. Even though last week I couldn’t have told you what a “brad” was – other than the Pitt variety. Learn something new every day, folks.

The kids then point the carrot to the appropriate number and rotate it every day to keep track of that ever-important Christmas timeline. Easy-peasy.  A nice one to have in your back pocket. 

I can’t promise that Mr. Snowman will stop the kids from asking you how many days remain till Christmas every 20 minutes.  But that’s okay.  That surplus excitement over the magic of the holidays will evaporate as they grow older, and I will miss it terribly.  Just like the piles of clothes in my laundry room will someday disappear, and I will long for small, dirty socks.  Or so I tell myself.

And guess where I found the idea for the snowman project, friends. That’s right, on my old nemesis, Pinterest.  I also ran across another tip there that I recently began implementing – reading to Baylor every morning.  Instead of flipping on his light with a “Sweetie, it’s time to get up,” then sticking my head back in and saying, “Really, it’s time to get up now,” followed shortly by, “Buddy, seriously, get your hinder out of bed,” I now slip into bed next to him five to ten minutes before he absolutely has to be up.  I flip open a book (We started with “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and are now reading “The Christmas Genie.”) and just start reading.  He wakes up nearly immediately but doesn’t poke his out from under the covers until around the third page.  We usually get through a chapter or so, and then he gets up with no complaints on his end and no nagging on mine.  It is an immeasurably better start to the day. 

I think, based on all these recent wins, it may be time to declare a Pinterest Truce. I might actually be grateful to Pinterest this week. 

I am also very grateful that my hubby could go to Baylor’s craft day yesterday while I was busy working. Yes, both kids had separate craft days this week. The last week before break is nothing but nuts,  what with sending in gifts and treats to school, remembering a towel for the kids to lounge on during Movie Day, finishing projects for your J-O-B, wrapping the gifts, spreading the cheer, and, apparently, creating a paper bag vest for Safari Day, if you live in my friend Michelle’s district.  That last bit just doesn’t feel necessary.  But teachers are making this time fun for the kiddos – and probably also trying to distract them enough to prevent them from tearing down the school entirely.  Happy break, every one!