Crafting as a Non-crafter
It can be done!
I used to dream of being a painter, like Monet, or an actress, like Judy Garland, or even a pianist, like Beethoven. But, sadly, all of these dreams of mine fell flat for one huge reason — I’m sooooo not artistic. I took painting and sculpting classes, I acted in school plays throughout the decades, and in addition to taking clarinet in middle school, I took piano in college. But I never excelled at the arts. It’s just not “my thing”.
But, dammit, if I wasn’t going to make some kick-ass crafts!
I managed to do a lot of paper and glue crafts for kids I babysat, and put a lot of thought into daily craft time with L (the incredible and sweet boy I nannied while I finished my college degree). But they all had one thing in common: Pinterest fail. (Sorry, L’s parents, for all the crappy crafts — we tried!)
Enter my busy bee six month old. Enter a Pinterest search (6 month old + diy + sensory crafts). Enter the promised land of crafts: The DIY Sensory Board.
And you know what? I DID it! And it’s pretty amazing. The most amazing part about it isn’t that it’s picture perfect or that it has the absolute best items for sensory play, or even that it looks awesome (none of these things apply). No, the reason it’s amazing is because R loves it and had a lot of fun exploring all the items I painstakingly placed on the board while she was napping. In fact, she woke up before I was totally finished and sat on her dad’s lap the whole time laughing while I added the final touches. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on it.
My sensory board may not win any beauty awards, and it may look a little MacGyver’ed (so much tape), but, R seems to love it. And I actually enjoyed putting it together. Though I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to the days I can just monitor R while she does her own crafting.
But, I think the main reason we parents do crazy things like make our own baby food, create insane crafts, and buy ridiculous “brain” toys, is because we want our kids to know that we are doing our best to help them grow. Even if it IS in the form of a crappy sensory board.
I love you, R.
