horse print by Jordan + Paul and is available here for those of you who asked ;-)
On paper, our weekend was pretty great. We partook in some especially good pizza at Eno's in Oak Cliff followed by a cuddly family movie night, we worked a bit on Audrey's birthday invitations, we had a magical/sparkly dinner with our friends Pete and Lucia and family, we branched out beyond wooden beads in our necklace making endeavors, we caught up on Project Runway and swam with buddies and ate ice cream sundaes...
There were lots of lovely bits, and it's fun sharing the lovely bits with you guys (it's one of my favorite parts of the week even). But in the spirit of keeping it real, I thought I'd let you in on some of the weekend's "lesser moments", which largely occurred on Saturday. Ready?
I was a craft tyrant, a mean mommy, a bit, well... (pardon my french) assholian if you will. Let's just say it was not my finest hour.
It was the more ambitious necklace making (and clay-bead creating) that sort of set me off. The problem was that I had ideas, a plan, a program, which the girlies were not so much on board with. They just wanted to have fun making things... (the nerve of them). I realized we were officially at odds when, after my third impassioned refrain of "You're not doing it right!!", Audrey retorted all calm and rational (to better contrast my total irrationality...she's good that one), "Why does there always have to be a right way?!".
Touché.
And of course their free-form, mellow take on the whole necklace making enterprise was producing much cooler end-products (+ they just didn't really give a darn, which almost always produces the coolest outcomes... I mean don't you just get the sense that say, Kate Moss has such amazing style because she kinda doesn't give a darn?) The fact that they were just having fun unleashed their creativity.
We eventually called a truce and walked away from the project (this is where the Project Runway viewing and sundae eating came in), but as we were marveling over dresses made of birdseed and partaking in hot fudge, I couldn't shake how rotten the whole experience made me feel. I kept thinking about one of my favorite quotes... and how I needed to chill, big time, or I'd run the risk of (according to Bly) turning my girls into bossy little control freaks.
“Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.” - David Bly
Admittance is the first step though, yes??
24 comments:
Love the necklaces. They came out great! Where did you get the beads?
Cheers!
Hayley
Thanks ;-)
we made the orange and white beads out of polymer clay, the rest are a combo of items from the hardware store (washers, bolts, etc...), old necklaces that I broke up and vintage beads.
you are an incredible mama...and your girls know it! it's the assholian moments that make us stronger and help us see clearer...trust me, i've had a few non-blue-ribbon-winning moments this past week in georgia.
let me remind you/encourage you,in defense of your mothering, that you stroked sweet Millie to sleep that night while she lay on your lap, dozing off into dreamland, all snuggled with her loving mama. (and ASSHOLIAN is my new favorite word.)
awe i love how ur weekend sounded!
*kiss kiss*
Erika
~Tiptoe Butterfly~
there must have been some crazy full moon energy this wkend, i was feeling utterly grouchy in the strangest bursts that would come and go. We can blame any assholian moments on the wacky full moon energy:)!
I need Audrey to come whip me into shape!! Love the necklaces.
I have had quite a few(assholian) encounters with my four over the years but as my mother always reminds me things don,t have to be perfect to
be beautiful.
~Anne
a) best quote ever
b) LOVE the necklace!
Little kids can be the best instructors, can't they?
Kudos to you for having the balls (pardon my language now) to admit that moment ... To all of us here but actually more importantly to yourself.
I'm not a mum yet but I've had a few of these with my husband and it can be so hard to admit when you're being a jerk.
It's always a work in progress, isn't it?
fantastic necklaces! you three girls should start a shop.
Sometimes, my favorite posts to read are the "real" ones. Thanks.
Oh - I am jealous......Leone...my favourites - particularly the violet ones!
Gorgeous photos. I agree with the full moon comment, because I also had a great weekend punctuated by my own assholianishness (too far?) Please thank your daughter for the reminder for all of us.
I love that you used the term assholian in your post. That gets you a point right there. The blog world can sometimes morph into this weird Stepford neighborhood where everything and everyone is perfect. It can really be daunting to write when you feel like everyone else has their shit together (pardon MY French) while you do not necessarily have it together on a daily basis. Thank you for the reality check. (Especially since I tend toward being a craft tyrant. I'm learning to let go, but it is embarrassing at times...)
I love your brutally honest and hilarious posts on mothering. Just want to thank you for keeping it real. And being funny.
http://nomadic-d.blogspot.com/
So you walked through your weekend knowing the good moments and you suffered the bad. Moms do. Revisit the weekend with your girlies sometime soon. Tell them what you worried about after the weekend was over.
They will shock you with their insight and gentle wisdom.
mb from Dallas
Love how the necklace turned out, xo!
the necklaces rock.
an amazing quote. thanks for sharing the real. our assholian moments may not be our finest but as long as we recognize them they might just help us find our way to our finest, yes?
Thanks for being so honest! It's these 'lesser' moments that make us human and it's good to know there's a fallible human being behind your lovely blog. Oh, and I love the necklaces!
Great quote Joslyn. Totally appreciated your honesty as well as the "gentle" reminder to be what you want them to be, not tell them to be :)
xo
your girls are lucky to have such a fun, creative mother! i completely understand your feelings of "you're not doing it right!" as i am an elementary/middle school art teacher. i just have to remind myself that "right" is when they are being honestly creative and having fun. who cares if it doesn't look like what you had envisioned?
you're super.
feel free to check out my classroom's blog @ http://cornerartk8.blogspot.com
love this post, can totally relate, and commend you on your moment of clarity within the assholian. love that word.
the necklaces are awesome.
Post a Comment