Overcoming My Irrational Fear of Crafts

Well, it’s been a few weeks since my last post.  I have to admit that this year it’s been a bit hard to find my groove on the blogging front after a tough 2012 but I’m clawing my way back. Anyways, on the positive side, I received a big promotion a few months ago. I love my expanded responsibilities but it’s meant a lot less time for blogging.

So summer has finally arrived and that means only one thing. Crafts. Crafts are freaking everywhere: the library, the Children’s Museum, even Vacation Bible schools are getting into the crafts craze.  I’m going to confess right now that I have an irrational fear of crafts. To understand why you have to go back to where it all started.

(Note to my Mother: I know you are sick of me telling this story so feel free to skip this post. And yes, I am bitter and will remain bitter about the Montessori Halloween Parade until pretty much forever.)

My mom sucked at crafts and apparently I’ve inherited the suck-at-crafts gene too.

Picture a little girl anxiously awaiting the start of the pre-school Halloween parade. Moms are all around helping their tots pull on custom made mummy, princess and cowboy costumes.

*Cue violin music*

The little girl looks around expectantly waiting for her mother to show.

The parade starts.

Even though the little girl doesn’t have her costume, her teacher tells her to get in line with the other paraders. Finally the mother rushes in looking harried and stressed.

She whips out a plastic Super Man costume from aToys R Us bag, snatches the little girl out of line, quickly puts the costume on her and shoves her back in line.

The little girl looks at the princesses and mummies and sadly marches along.

Okay, I know I’m making this sound kind of pathetic but this is how I remember my pre-school Halloween parade experience. I vowed when I became a mother that if my tot had to wear a costume I was going hire f&*@!g Valentino if I had to to make sure my kid looked good.

So flash forward, 30+ years and I find myself in the same predicament as my mother did all those years ago – busy working mom, with a hectic job, and no time to make a damn costume for the pre-school play.

So what does any self-respecting, craft-phobic working mom do?

I asked our awesome nanny Eva to make D2’s bush costume, the outcome of which you can see in the picture above. Turns out D2 wasn’t all that keen to be in the play and after nearly ripping the costume off and having a DEF CON 5 meltdown before the play even started, I managed to snap this picture. She even made a matching little bush hat which D2 refused to wear.

Am I proud that I outsourced the costume making to our nanny? No.

Would I do it again? To quote Dr. Dre, “Hell, Yeah.”

Then I started thinking about all of the future projects that I would have to make with D2 like erupting volcanoes, bird houses, Christmas ornaments and realized that it’s time for me to get a grip.

Turns out that while I’m not big into crafts, D2 is obsessed with painting, drawing, sticker-booking and basically anything that involves art. To see watch his little face, tongue stuck out in concentration as he applies glue stick to the back of a glittery letter is to realize I am missing out on one of life’s great pleasures – creating art for art’s sake.

This summer he’s attending pre-school camp at Montessori and made this Leaning Tower of Pisa for me. He was so proud when he brought it home.

D2’s Leaning Tower of Pisa

So this summer with Pinterest at my side, I’ve resolved to get over my fear of crafts one project at a time. If D2 can get this much pure joy from such a simple activity, surely I can too. Wish me luck. Now your turn. Love crafts or hate them? What are your favorite summer projects to do with your kids?