from Mer Mag
I was fairly excited to drop-off the big boy today at school because it is Valentine’s Day. He picked out some cute valentines cards at Target and he signed each one by himself. His classroom was all excitement with bustling mamas everywhere. Tables were covered with pink & red hearts and decorations. I asked where I should put our Valentines and the teacher instructed me to put my bag “over there on that table…with all the other bags.” Umm. What bag? We just have this tiny stack of two inch cards. Wait, weren’t we given a mandate to not bring candy?
*Begin humming/vibrating noise in my head as I approach the table in slow-motion and the room seems to elongate with each step…walking, hopefully without dread on my face. Arrive at table FILLED with bags FULL of STUFF for each child. Mild panic sets in. The big boy seems blissfully unaware of the issue, blessedly, and he runs off to play.
For the record, I am the only professional artist mama in the class. I am an artist, designer and I blog about craft. To reiterate, we bought our Pirate cards at Target…he chose them himself. And I was awfully happy and proud to see him sign each one, under only a small amount of pressure from me. And the mamas in the classroom are lovely women and like-minded and we all get along very well.
You see, the truth is, I have very fond memories of collecting all of those little store-bought cards in my elementary school. I loved all the little pictures. And seeing my friend’s names. I liked the way they shuffled together and felt in my hands. I really didn’t have time to make what I wanted to make for him. But I can tell you that again, I’m not doing very well in the housewife olympics…maybe not even placing.
And I am reminded again of the wisdom I am gleaning from my current favorite parenting book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel, Ph.D. :
Sometimes good enough is actually better for your child.
Ok, so it may be a lame attempt to make myself feel better, but it is working. So, I will now absolve myself of any further shame by offering up to you what I wanted to make– but didn’t make. I saw these first on The Long Thread. They are handmade pirate Valentines from Mer Mag. She posted a free printable download. How adorable? Pretend I made these, OK?
I also really like this free download from Style Crush:
I have a friend who used to say “not everything has to be a thing”. You sound just like her.
Sounds like we had similar valentines experience! I asked fin – don’t you want to make your own cards? – I am as well the only professional artist in his class and feel it’s my responsibility to be creative at all times! But he really wanted scooby doo cards from target. I had similar memories of shuffling through the cards and thought why pressure him to be artsy. (earlier in the week I taught the class about sailor’s valentines and we made some out of clay ( and beans)!)
My point being. Sometimes it’s cool not to pressure your kids into being crafty and having to make all their birthday cards and wrapping paper for their friends birthday presents. And sometimes it’s more fun for 4 years to pick out their own scooby doo cards and sign their own names. Xox