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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Crafting for Boys

I am a creative soul.  You have to say "soul", saying "person" just doesn't cover it.  This is really one of the those things you have to BE to really understand.  I don't "like" to craft and be creative, I NEED to craft and be creative.  When the world is totally falling apart and I really, truly am going to go postal on the nearest human, I will drop life and start a project. Actually, I will start with a four-hour nap.  THEN I will start a project.  Life is always better after nap, isn't it?  Maybe I'll go have one now . . .

Hi, I'm back!  Most people have a sharp rise in blood pressure if they have to contemplate a sewing machine with a pile of fabric or three gallons of paint meant for repainting the entire downstairs, each room a different color and different painting technique.  I do these things to relax.  Gimme a glue gun and a paint brush any day.  I have more woodworking tools in my garage than most guys who proudly display their Man Cards to the neighbors.  No lie, one of the projects I really want to start is making the headboard and wall unit for my bedroom that I haven't been able to find and/or don't want to pay $5k for.  I get a rush of energy just thinking about buying lumber.  Mmmm clear, quarter-sawn white oak . . .

Let me say, YES, I am that annoying mom who sends her kids to school with all kinds of cute, homemade snacks, costumes, projects, whatever.  HOWEVER, I am also the mom who sends her kids to school in the clothes they've been wearing for the last three days (hey, I asked them to change and they threw a fit ("But my underwear are all warm and comfortable!") and some battles just aren't that important in the long run.  It's not like he's not going to graduate from high school if he doesn't change his underwear today.  Really.), without their homework done (I don't even want to talk about homework.  Elementary school homework is just a punishment for parents, middle/high school homework isn't my job.  End of story.), and with the disciplinary letter from the bus driver all signed, acknowledging it isn't kosher for my son to stand on top of the backs of the bus seats while the bus is flying down the road.  So, all things considered, you enjoy my kid's home-made valentines and I'll enjoy your kid's clean clothes and combed hair!  We celebrate our strengths :D

Along with writing, however, sewing has been my earliest great love.  I started writing my first story right around the time I sewed my first shirt -- first grade.  In high school, I regularly designed and made an entire dress in one morning, and then wore that dress to church that same morning.  I'm not saying these were catwalk-worthy, just that this was something I didn't see as odd.  I spent most of high school drawing and painting on anything that would hold still.  Fortunately, my mother is a kindred spirit and when I said I wanted to splatter paint my bedroom in three colors, she said, "Go for it."

When my first child was born, a girl, everyone said, "Oh, you're so lucky, now you can use all your sewing and crafty skills!"  This was around the height of Daisy Kingdom's popularity, with their multi-layered, multi-doo-dadded dresses.  My daughter did have all kinds of big floofy dresses and hair bows.  Even her Barbies and baby dolls got wardrobes AND toy furniture. Oh how wonderful to not only be crafty, but also to have a daughter so I could use my craftiness!

So when I continued to have male offspring, I got quite a few comments along the lines of, "Oh I'm so sorry you have sons (lots of interesting comments usually follow this start) because you're so crafty and you can't really sew dresses and hair bows for boys."

Here is what I have discovered: first, you CAN sew dresses and hair bows for boys.  They're just not going to wear them (unless properly remunerated); second, sewing dresses and hair bows is sort of the "easy out" for creative people.  Crafting for boys is SO MUCH more fun!  Without the easy go-tos one normally thinks of, I have had to stretch my skills a bit with the projects my boys have presented me.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges they've given me that have pushed me out of my comfort zones.  After painting my daughter's room with periwinkle and white delicate flowers, I painted my son's room with a full panoramic underwater mural.  Everyone got involved!  I loved the flowers and classy white chair rail in my daughter's room, but we all loved creating the mural in my son's room.

Halloween is the main Crafting For Boys season and this year has presented the usual, fun challenges.  I have always had a rule about Halloween costumes -- nothing scary or gross.  Beyond being something I just don't want my boys to do, scary and gross Halloween costumes are just lazy.  Make an effort, people!  Rotting mummies and blood-drenched Dracula?  Yawn.  Done, done, and over it.  With my "stupid" and "unreasonable" rules about costumes, my boys have had to stretch their minds to come up with:

A rock

A cactus

A protesting goose

A garbage can

A shoe



A sock (with a hole in the big toe)

A girl (see earlier notes about pre-conceived notions about sewing)

Dr Who

A crayon

A dragon

Rod

and about 23 Star Wars clone troopers.

This year's offerings will include a sandwich and a banana.  I'm super excited!  Trust me, you can do about ANYTHING with 72" wide felt.  But before I open up the sewing cabinet and get my scissors out, I really do need to unload the dishwasher and make dinner.  Yeah, I know you already have those done, along with having planned and organized the rest of the week.  But we all play to our strong suits!  Even if your strength doesn't really lend itself to whatever your current situation necessitates, you can make it work and have fun at the same time!  We all need to enjoy life, even if "life" currently means camping on the couch 14 hours a day with starving newborn who eats every 90 minutes, and then poops and spits up for the 80 minutes in between feedings, while the toddler decorates the lower 36" of your house with green and brown crayons.  (Do my details seem specific?  Oh yeah, been there, Honey.  I feel your pain.)

It's OK to do what you like while you're doing what you NEED to do.  Find time for it however you can and go crazy with what you love! And now, I've got a sewing machine and a chop saw calling my name, see ya!















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