And the award for craftiest mom... Will not go to me

Every time I get on Facebook or look at another blog, I’m bombarded with pictures of all the creative things that parents are doing with their kids and for their family.  Delicious dinners made from scratch.  Valentines painstakingly glued together and bedazzled to look like works of art.  Secret Agent birthday parties. Desserts that look like the came straight out of a boutique bakery.  I’m in awe at all of the innovation and creativity that so many of my fellow parents have, and more than a little envious.  I’m just not that person.  It’s not that I can’t be creative and have fun.  We play hide and seek and have dance parties.  We color and finger paint.  In warmer weather, we went on nature walks and collected rocks, colorful leaves and sticks.  We play silly, made-up games (what hand is the penny in?). We have even, on occasion, made cookies.  But when it comes to the really creative stuff, well, I think I’m lacking a little.  Evelyn is still very young so it’s hard to do some stuff with her.  Not to mention the fact that she has entered the trying and tiresome, yet sometimes terrific Toddler Phase ( I can’t say Two Year Old Phase yet – it’s still too soon!).  An attempt at making Valentines the other day ended up with her sticking them in her mouth when my back was turned.  Baking cookies turned into eating the sprinkles directly from the bottle cap.  Oh well, we had fun.

We are starting to get stuff together for Evie’s new room.  We thought about keeping the kids together, but ultimately decided to give Evie her own room, which will double as a guest room with family and friends visit.  I’m still dreaming of moving to a different house, but for now this will do.  We’re not in any big rush to get her room done since she’ll still be in her crib for a while after the baby is born, but we’re brainstorming ideas.  After looking online, I figured out very quickly that people are far more creative than me.  I’m talking huge wall murals, beds made to looking like princess castles and pirate ships and chalkboard walls.  I was thinking about painting the walls and getting a new bedspread and some safely sides for the queen-sized bed already in the room.  Uhh… am I not thinking big enough?  I’m just too simple and practical I guess.  I want Evie’s new room to look cute and to be a comfortable place that she can read her stories, play with some toys and have lots of sweet dreams.  But I honestly don’t feel the need to go crazy.  For one, she’s going to get older and have ideas of her own about how to decorate her room.  I don’t want to put a lot of time and money into something that will change so soon.  Not to mention the fact that I want move.  We’ll figure something out.  Daddy says he’ll give her the greatest room ever…I’m not so sure I should let him loose.  He has tendency to want to over-indulge our little princess. :)

But back to my original observation – I am not as creative as my fellow parents.  It’s something that I really envy.  I just don’t have that artistic touch.  My sister Holly – she’s creative and comes up with really neat ideas.  Me – not so much.  I decided the other day that it’s a good thing that Evie has creative relatives.  Hopefully they can pick up my slack in that department.  After all – it does take a village!  Not that I won’t try and learn some stuff.  I may take a cake decorating class and, when Evie gets older, I think it would be fun to take a craft class like pottery together.  If all else fails, hopefully Evie will make friends with children whose parents follow Pinterest. :)