Anyone who's known me for more than a week knows that craftiness is not part of my giftedness or skill set. I am a cake-decorating school dropout - true, it was an adult ed class at the high school but I knew during the first session that I was setting myself up for pain and decided to forfeit the class fee and avoid torturing myself. I see lovely pictures of crafts and flower arrangements in magazines and think, "I can do this!" even while muttering to myself, "Why frustrate yourself? Why? Why? Why do you insist on thinking you can do this? Give.it.up."
I have helped in arts and crafts during Vacation Bible School and am usually put to shame by the preschoolers and early elementary students who fully understand and complete the simple projects before them. Me? I best serve if I can write their names on their projects.
I can think of two craft projects that turned out well. I took a wreath-making class (again, adult-ed style) and the finished product was actually presentable because I followed the instructor's example step-by-step and didn't deviate with any of my own so-called creative flourishes. And I once took a basket weaving class with my mother and finished weaving my basket (as opposed to my more talented seamstress mother who gave up on her basket. I found her partially woven basket stashed away when helping her move years later,).
Despite my historic and chronic failures in this area of life, last week I was grateful for arts and crafts. I was spending time with my nephews after school. One escaped to his room to finish reading his book and the other hung out with me, telling me about his day, sharing his grades, trying on his Halloween costume. So very grateful for this time spent together. He is 11 and I fear these times are fleeting but I hope they are laying a good foundation for the future.
Our conversation ran its course and I suggested we play a game. Agreeable, he headed to the game closet and said "Want to make something instead?" Gamely pulling on my Good Aunt Hat, I said, "Sure" even as I was pushing down my defeatist self-talk about how inept I am at anything remotely crafty. This is the same nephew who has a mind like an engineer and at age 5 or 6, when I couldn't help him figure out his Lego project and suggested he wait for his uncle to arrive, gamely said, "I'll figure it out myself." And so he did.
So last week, he brought out the fusion beads and encouraged me as he pointed out the simple designs in the catalog that I could make, counting the beads and following the example there. He helped me search through the hundreds of beads to find the colors I needed, even as he created his own design using the creativity of his mind without painstakingly following an example like I was.
And at that kitchen table, I marveled at the gift of arts and crafts. Yes, I successfully completed two small fusion bead projects, but the real gift arts and crafts gave me that afternoon was the time we were spending together. Aunt and nephew, hanging out, talking about "stuff." I'm pretty sure we'll stop spending time together over arts and crafts in the years to come. The venue is likely to shift to diners, pizza places or college coffee shops, but that afternoon, I was actually happy to be doing arts and crafts, to just be with my nephew, to witness his creativity, to see him be an encourager and a helper.
Bring on the arts and crafts.
No comments:
Post a Comment