Whether she admits it or not, my oldest daughter has inherited my attention span, or lack of it. I have only recently discovered this trait in myself. Actually, that’s not completely true; I think I’ve known about my lack of patience for some time, I’ve only just admitted to it.
The best opportunity to see this lack of patience is when it comes to doing crafts. My short attention span is emphasized when I watch my daughter, a mirror of my own reactions sometimes.
It’s funny, my daughter can draw and colour pictures for hours, but throw a different type of craft at her and lookout. Don’t get me wrong, my daughter loves crafts; she loves creating something all on her own, or rather she likes the IDEA of creating something on her own. She likes the finished product and showing it off and explaining to everyone how she worked on it. What she leaves out in her story is the part about screaming at the yarn because it won’t go through the needle or boycotting blue paint because it doesn’t make her sky look springtime fresh.
I always thought crafts were supposed to help you escape and relax.
Why go through this stress? Why involve my daughter in something she clearly doesn’t seem to enjoy. It would be so much easier to just suggest projects that have her drawing or painting, doing things she can do well, but then she would never have discovered collage work or photography. So maybe the bag she has been struggling to sew will go away for a while or the pot she made out of clay will never get glazed. The great thing about hobbies and crafts is that you can start and stop them when time and talent allow. Heck, I have a whole shelf devoted to hobbies I’ve started and stopped. One day I’ll start them again, just as my daughter will pick-up her past projects. We’re just waiting for our patience to catch up with us.
What hobbies have you or your kids started and stopped? Do you think you’ll ever pick them up again?