I love crafts. I love the sight of glitter all the way down to seeing it make my vacuum sparkle like Lady Gaga’s face. I love to cut pretty paper with my zigzag scissors. I love the magic of having a vision in my head and making it happen. I love seeing something fabulous on Pinterest and saying, “I’ll give that a try” and actually trying it. I love cooking. I love baking. I love throwing fun, pretty parties. You get me? If you do, unite ladies! If, on the other hand, you are currently rolling your eyes thinking, “oh boy…another one of ‘those’ moms” I am here to debunk that thought.
First off, I’m not saying some of these thoughts may not be totally valid for some ladies out there and that sucks. In those cases continue the eye rolls. My hope is that my perspective may give you another side of the story so that just maybe the next time your Crafty Mom brings her homemade triple chocolate cookies to preschool you may be able to happily munch on them without any inner feelings of guilt or even worse…distain. Because let’s be honest, chocolate is always better with a side of happy. Right?
She has way too much time on her hands.
Girl I wish! But unfortunately my genie didn’t grant that wish this time. I’m still over here barely managing to get myself together most mornings and dealing with 15 minute tantrums about absolutely nothing. Nope, we all have the same amount of time…your Crafty Mom just chooses to spend her time a little differently…that’s all. While you may be doing amazing things like training for a marathon, studying for that master’s degree, hitting up that friends and family sale at Gap Kids, we are taking that time to arrange flowers and wrap banana bread in burlap. Maybe makes no sense to you but is a perfect use of nap time in my book – because it’s a passion – simple as that.
-Image from Fun, Yum & Frills–
You’re definitely not wrong about one thing though, crafts can be time consuming. Ya, those over-the-top parties and homemade sweets take time but that means your Crafty Mom is a planner. Months ahead of time I am making Pinterest boards and to-do lists upon to-do lists all while making sure the playdates and pool time aren’t getting lost in the mix. Believe me, your Crafty Mom is your biggest asset when it comes to time management!
That’s an expensive hobby.
Most crafters will tell you that if you’re looking in the right places and planning ahead, crafting is cheap! Cheaper than buying those decorations the week before for full price (and we get it – sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles and they are still darn cute!) There’s seriously not a day when Michaels and Jo-Ann don’t have coupons. And don’t even get me started on the number of Facebook groups specifically for group craft buys. And remember that planner piece? Well, your Crafty Momma may very well have bought her decorations on sale six weeks ago for 40% off. I get to non-crafters that this is great in theory but to actually do it just seems overwhelming. But to a trained Crafty Mom, shopping at Michaels is a true art form…now if we could only talk them into adding wine while shopping like Target…then it would be expensive.
She’s a total show off and puts my mom guilt through the roof.
This is the one I read the most and makes me so sad. Because here’s the deal, this is not for or about you. It’s not to show you up. It’s not to put you down. It’s for my sanity. It’s because my brain just works differently. And when I share something I’ve created with you, it’s me sharing a bit of myself with you. It’s like this: when you look at diapers and wipes you see just that. But I see a ballerina. I can’t tell you why but I do. We don’t judge you for seeing diapers and wipes because why wouldn’t you? They’re diapers and wipes! There’s no reason to see them for anything other than that. Now do I like that I see ballerinas? You betcha. But I get that that’s just not you – you share yourself in a different way and I love that about you.
–Image by Fun, Yum & Frills–
So mamas, next time that your Crafty Momma offers you her homemade trail mix with her handmade card complete with a 3D butterfly just remember that it’s not a sign saying, “I’m better than you,” it’s just one momma sharing a little piece of herself with you. And that’s chocolate worthy.
