I like having a desk job:
- it's air conditioned or heated as needed;
- someone else does the vacuuming and dusting;
- it's quiet;
- there's a cafeteria right down the hallway;
- I don't have to share my computer with small people who like to watch Taylor Swift music videos on You Tube for hours on end;
- and I get to oversee a variety of interesting projects that simmer along in an orderly and satisfying fashion.
All in all, it's got perks.
Occasionally, though, there are weeks when all of my happily simmering work projects simultaneously boil over; splatter gunk all over me, the walls and the floor; and, finally, incinerate themselves into a charred, smoking black mass.
This was one of those weeks. It is during such weeks that I start to fantasize about how idyllic it would be to be a stay-at-home mom. I have visions of maintaining a perfectly orderly home; preparing hearty home-cooked meals; helping my children practice their "math facts" every day; and, of course, crafting. If you know me, however, you know those visions are more like hallucinations. The truth is that I'd get sick of cleaning and cooking in about, oh, 37 minutes or so. Then I'd wonder whether the fam and I could still sneak back into my old workplace to eat at the cafeteria.
BUT, there is one thing that I can do: I can craft. I come from a long line of crafty people. My grandma -- who could sew a mean "housedress" (did your grandma wear those?) taught me to sew and crochet when I was a kid. My Mom even took a crack at teaching us to sew our own clothes for a scary time there. Also thrown into the mix during my childhood were knitting, making wooden plagues with inspirational sayings written in calligraphy, papier mache, woven potholders made with those cloth loops, hooked rugs, embroidery, painting, quilting etc., etc. You name it, we crafted it.
The one thing were were not very good at was f. . .f. . . f. . . .finishing our many projects. It's still hard for me to say that word. In fact, we called it the F word at our house because it was a word we never used. I still have the ONE sock that I knitted about 20 years ago, and at least 2 unfinished quilts squirreled away around here somewhere.
So, I am glad to report, that I do actually finish some crafts with my kids these days. For instance, we finished these last weekend:
Sure, we started them about 6 months ago, but the kids have already forgotten that part. These are called Softies, by the way, and the patterns are from this adorable book by Therese Laskey
The really amazing thing about crafting with my punks is that they totally adore anything we make together. Stuff that they wouldn't look twice at in the store, they think is magical because we actually created it (even if Mom cheats by using google eyes). Here's Julie feelin' the magic.
And my other punk, with his new friend, Treeling:
So, if things don't work out with the desk job, my fool-proof back-up plan is to sell 1970s woven pot-holders, inspirational wooden plaques and half-finished quilts on e-bay. Crafty, aren't I?