I would love to be one of those mothers who enjoys spending hours baking, painting, and building airplanes out of lolly sticks, but I’m just not.
Apart from the odd bit of cutting and sticking – who doesn’t like cutting pretty pictures out of magazines? – I hate pretty much all kids’ craft activities.
Seriously, they are DULL.
Also, it is hugely frustrating to watch a child doing a not very good job of something.
What I prefer to do, is take Belle places where other people can do crafts with her. That way she can get her fill of creativity, and I don’t have to get the table sticky. It’s a bit like school – somewhere she can go to be stimulated, learn things and get some exercise, so I don’t feel guilty letting her come home and watch Hannah Montana for two hours straight. And it’s free! Brilliant.
Anywhere that boasts ‘special craft activities!’ gets my vote, which was why we went on an outing recently to The Bishop’s Palace at Wells.
After the obligatory walk around the admittedly beautiful gardens – ‘What’s that flower Mummy?’ – ‘I don’t know, you should ask Gran’ – we headed straight for the corner filled with glue sticks and crepe paper, so that Belle could make a weather mobile.
Here it is – isn’t she clever? I think it may even still be in the house somewhere and not in the recycling.
Bee wasn’t quite so keen on the crafts, but she did have a disproportionate amount of fun making a piece of foil into a small rectangle and taking pictures of bits of rubbish she found on the floor.
And then of course the best bit of any day out – lunch. We’d actually done pretty well to get to The Bishops Palace in the morning. Normally my family has a habit of faffing about and arriving somewhere just in time to have lunch and drive home again.
On this occasion we went to Ask and spent some Sainsbury’s points. Bee got carried away and ate three puddings.
“Noooooo!” Bee is screeching at me. “I didn’t eat three puddings! Take it off!”
“But it’s funny”
“Well at least tell people I didn’t really have three puddings.”
“OK”
Bee didn’t really have three puddings. Honestly.
I love the Bishops’s Palace (and, for that matter, free craft mornings). Glad you had a good time – and did you have the goats cheese pizza? Did you? Didja? Go on – make me jealous…
It’s beautiful isn’t it? I went to the Cathedral loads as a kid, but not the Bishop’s Palace (must have been because you had to pay!), but the grounds of the Bishop’s Palace are lovely, and Belle really enjoyed the activities.
I actually had calzone, with a chicken and leek filling. Plus lots of garlic bread. And I was terribly virtuous and didn’t have any pudding at all. Mainly because I wanted to get fudge from the fudge shop :-)
3 puddings sounds fine to me. Lots of calcium, I’m guessing?
Looks like you had a great time, I love craft things myself as you know and can’t wait for Baba to get really into it all xx
I love doing crafts with my children but hate the tidying up afterwards! 3 puddings sounds fine to me! :)
My usual answer to “nature questions I haven’t a clue about” is “I bet Grandad would know”!
Good, glad it’s not just me being dense!
Oh your a lady after my own heart. I don’t do craft and baking as my post of same name revealed, and much prefer someone or something else entertaining my children. Ha ha
M2m x
I would happily employ someone to take them away and do crafts with them. Fortunately I already have my mother nearby :-)
does cheesecake, maltesers and ice cream count as three puddings? If so, guilty last night and no doubt tonight too…!
If it’s good size portions of each then absolutely, guilty as charged!
I was NEVER a “crafter” before kids came along but I have to say I enjoy getting messy with them now :-)
Weirdly, I was much more into crafty stuff BEFORE I had kids – I think I find it too messy now, like I want to be doing it just me, doing it ‘properly’…