When my sister and I were young, my mom, like most mothers at that time, was the stay-at-home kind. I always remember her being involved in some art or craft project at home or at church. From sewing us matching outfits or crazy stuffed animals (i.e. Frank, the long-legged, green-haired guy), to decorating beautiful Easter eggs or making her own Christmas cards, my mom seemed to have an endless amount of creative energy. Pancakes were never the standard issue round shape in our house...they were animal shaped. Bananas in my lunchbox weren't plain yellow like everyone else's...they had faces drawn on the skins. On special occasions those bananas would even emerge from my lunchbox wearing accessories (i.e. a small pink Barbie comb tied to the stem made for a very glamorous fruit lady--so very funny to me now--not quite so funny back then!) When I started brown-bagging my lunch, there was always a picture drawn on the outside of the bag--one day a miniature Susan was swimming with sharks, the next she was holding onto a single balloon and floating through the air. My mom was bursting with creative energy and she always seemed to find some way to express it. As a kid, I thought she was trying to annoy me. As an adult, I realize she was surviving motherhood. When you're home all day with little people, you can begin to lose yourself in the everydayness of the job. Finding opportunities to laugh and be creative helps you remember who you are, helps you keep a sense of humor about things, and helps to keep things in perspective. I don't make animal pancakes for my kids (yet), but many of my snacks have faces and/or talk with thick accents. For now, my boys find this knee-slapping funny. And thank God for that. It's a life saver for all of us :)
P.S. Mom, thank you. I love you and your creative energy.
When my sister and I were young, my mom, like most mothers at that time, was the stay-at-home kind. I always remember her being involved in some art or craft project at home or at church. From sewing us matching outfits or crazy stuffed animals (i.e. Frank, the long-legged, green-haired guy), to decorating beautiful Easter eggs or making her own Christmas cards, my mom seemed to have an endless amount of creative energy. Pancakes were never the standard issue round shape in our house...they were animal shaped. Bananas in my lunchbox weren't plain yellow like everyone else's...they had faces drawn on the skins. On special occasions those bananas would even emerge from my lunchbox wearing accessories (i.e. a small pink Barbie comb tied to the stem made for a very glamorous fruit lady--so very funny to me now--not quite so funny back then!) When I started brown-bagging my lunch, there was always a picture drawn on the outside of the bag--one day a miniature Susan was swimming with sharks, the next she was holding onto a single balloon and floating through the air. My mom was bursting with creative energy and she always seemed to find some way to express it. As a kid, I thought she was trying to annoy me. As an adult, I realize she was surviving motherhood. When you're home all day with little people, you can begin to lose yourself in the everydayness of the job. Finding opportunities to laugh and be creative helps you remember who you are, helps you keep a sense of humor about things, and helps to keep things in perspective. I don't make animal pancakes for my kids (yet), but many of my snacks have faces and/or talk with thick accents. For now, my boys find this knee-slapping funny. And thank God for that. It's a life saver for all of us :) 
P.S. Mom, thank you. I love you and your creative energy.
Very creative. I used to send little notes in my boys' lunch boxes/bags until they got old enough to call me on it! Kids grow up waay to fast.
ReplyDeleteI bet that's one of the things they'll always remember about you :) So nice!
ReplyDeleteWoo, I'm loving the new background! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks C! Hope all is well on your end!
ReplyDelete