Parents have to be creative
By Staff
Michelle Blaylock, Mom's Corner
Let’s look at time. There’s only 24 hours in a day. That’s it! I’ve tried to make 36 hours in a day, but it just can’t be done! Since we can’t add more hours in a day, we have to look at how time is used. Keeping caught up on chores and not letting things get behind can help when something unexpected happens. (i.e. the costume in three days.) Also, having things organized can be a major benefit. If you know where all your things for sewing, crafts, or whatever are, it’s easier to pull that rabbit out of the hat.
Not everyone has time to be Suzie Homemaker or wants to be! Never fear, there are alternatives. Want to make your child’s Halloween costume, but can’t or don’t want to sew? ParentCenter.com and Family Fun.com have some super no-sew costumes. Want a cute trick or treat bag to match a costume? How about purchasing one of the blank bags from the craft section at Wal-Mart and using fabric paint to decorate it? Do it with your child and spend some time with them as well! Don’t be too picky on how it turns out, the time you invest in your child is the most important thing. Also if you’re just learning to sew, Halloween costumes are great to practice on. They’re usually fairly simple and, after all, it's a Halloween costumes so if you mess it up it’s no big deal!
There are many little crafts you can find for you and your child to do. For just about any holiday you could purchase some foamies and make little themed pins to wear. For Thanksgiving you could do some simple origami and use them for place cards at your big feast. Origami also works well for little Christmas ornaments.
Although I enjoy making costumes, crafts, and treats; not everyone does and sometimes I don’t have time. One year at school they had “dress as your favorite story character” day. It was fun, but it was scheduled the at the same time as I was doing the book fair! AHHH!! There was no way I could make a costume. Well, one child decided to be Robin Hood, that worked out great because he had been something similar at Halloween. The other one wanted to be Madeline. We just didn’t have any dresses that looked the part.
So, off I went to Wal-Mart. I found a cute dress that looked close and then I took her Easter hat and put ribbon on it. It worked great and everyone knew whom she was portraying. The dress also worked as a “church” dress and was passed down to her sisters.
I want to encourage you to take the time to be with your children. They will cherish the memories of what you did with them. I hope these ideas have been helpful in that way. If you have a great craft, idea, or recipe to share please send it to me at: moms-corner@juno.com (Don’t forget the hyphen!)
