Not too crafty crafting

Sometimes I sit down and write and write, only to delete every single word. That happened yesterday. That has happened every single time on my scripture blog since the first post, although I do have a few drafts I just haven't had time to flesh out.

The kids are home from school for the holidays, and so far today we have avoided any serious fighting. We do that by having all the neighborhood kids over. When there is no boredom, there is less fighting.

I could, I suppose, also arrange for my kids to do lots of crafts.

Ha ha ha hhaaaaaaaaaaa, ha ha! Hee hee! Whoo! Ha ha...

Sorry, about that. I'm not at all cynical about crafts and I like my kids to do them, but there are two factors that I'm always calculating: the clean-up (or, more correctly, the not cleaned-up factor. I just get so very tired of hounding them about cleaning up.); and the cost. Also the organizing factor. Three factors.

There are three factors that I'm always calculating: the clean-up factor, the cost factor, the organizing factor and the glue factor. Four factors.

I'm just kidding. There are just three. That was just a little gratuitous Monty Python reference. Nobody expected that.

There are lots of things the kids can make that cost little or no money. I know this because I have read all the books. My son, Child Five, can take a stick and a broken piece of plastic and create a world of his own for at least 45 minutes or more. He has a boundless imagination. I love that about him. My girls like to do more of the traditional kind of play, which involves heavy amounts of glue. Recently, Child Two created a whole castle out of saved toilet paper rolls and about 2000 feet of duct tape. She entered her castle in the Reflections Contest and it placed. I went to the cupboard for duct tape the other day and remembered where it had all gone.

I buy reams of paper at a time for the kids.

They craft. Oh, they craft. I have taught a couple of them the rudimentery skills of crochet (we have not progressed because they are easily frustrated. The lesson stops after the hook gets thrown the third time.), they love to cook, and we never have any crayons gathered into one place because they get used all over the house. I think the walls and floor actually eat the crayons, they disappear so fast. But as far as me being organized and presenting lovely beading projects or cute little flannel creations, or cards, forget it!

The one exception to this rule is at birthday parties. I hate sending home goody bags. Goody bags are mostly sugar. I prefer to send home something that the kids made and can play with. For Child Three's tenth birthday party on Saturday, we made ribbon streamers. They are the sticks with wide ribbons that spin and swirl. I even made the kids sand the ends. I would have preferred having them make something with some really cool power tools, but that would translate into a looooong party. Possibly dangerous, as well.

"Okay, kids, it's time to get out the routers for the lid of your hope chest now! And please make sure you don't point your nail guns at anyone. I mean you!"

Other than birthday parties, though, I don't organize crafting. They're on their own, unless I have something I'm doing and can share it with them. I once took a whole day to make some string art. I neglected everything. It turned out really well -- I made sure I chose colors that didn't channel the 70's. But I haven't done it since. Not enough time. My crafting tends to be long-winded, just like my writing about crafting.