This week was a doozy. I had a self imposed deadline to get my new product line in the store. This meant:
Finishing the crafts
Taking pictures
Taking promotional videos
Sitting down for a Facebook Live video
Promoting the video on social media
And so on…
I included Roo on as much as I could, but honestly I just told her to find something to do out of my hair most of the time.
And I don’t feel guilty.
Kids should be bored sometimes, that’s when they have drive to create! (See my earlier post on the subject.)
Sometimes I set stuff out for her to create on her own, like this.
Boxes I needed to toss, markers, pipe cleaners, stickers, string, and scissors. She added paper plates and construction paper. I figured she would build a house or something. Instead she asked for playdough and googly eyes and made this.
(Whatever the heck that is)
She was so happy and proud of herself. I was happy she was happy and not under foot!
I know what you’re thinking,
“That’s great for you. But my kid would never be happy playing indepently for that long.”
But here’s the thing, I do crafts and other projects with her regularly. We work on skills like cutting with scissors safely, coloring, placing stickers. Currently we’re working on using a glue stick without using THE WHOLE STICK on one sequin. Because I practice these skills WITH her often and we make things together, she has the confidence and a sense of direction when given the tools to use alone.
(Also I’d like to point out that as I’m writing this on my phone, she was screaming at me. Not anything in particular. Just screaming for attention. Because my focus is not on her. Now she is happily coloring a paper plate after being ignored.)
So just another reason to make it a point to sit down with your kids and create together!
Fellow blogging moms, what do your kids do while you’re working?