The kids made butterflies and flowers that they are still cherishing weeks later.
The whole experience left me thinking that maybe I could try a bit harder to encourage my kids to be creative makers too. Jane is always doing such awesome crafts with her kids and clearly all I need is some pipe cleaners, tissue paper and paper clips. In the past I've been more of a "fine you can sit on my lap while I sew" crafting mom. You are more likely to hear me say "No! You can't use the rotary cutter" or "That's is *my* fabric." Hangs head. I can do better.
So yesterday when the kids were driving me bonkers because it was raining and I was trying to study, I just gave up. I herded them to the kitchen table, got out the scraps of elastic cord I keep from the shoes we buy at Target (yeah, I keep those. Call Hoarders on me.) and a box of ditalini. (They're little sliced tubes of noodle. Know your pasta, people!)
Turns out scrap elastic and uncooked pasta is a kid craft made in heaven. Jimmy could even thread noodles on his elastic. Today we had to go to Wegman's for more kinds of "beads".
It was fun and I had a nice happy time with me kids that they loved and made me feel like less of a crap mom for putting them off while I sew or study. Of course, it all came to an end did after Jimmy mixed all the different kinds of noodles together (which make the voices mad) and then made a game of flicking zitis across the table and all over the floor. Sigh.
But I know you are jealous of my new Ditialini bracelet. ;)
