It begins...

A friend recently forwarded an email to me titled "The Invisible Mother," a short essay comparing the tireless and often thankless job of a mother to the builders of Europe's great cathedrals. Both give their whole lives for a work they will never see finished, both make sacrifices and expect no credit, and both are fueled in their passion by the faith that the eyes of God see every detail. The writer of the essay was inspired by the thought that our endless efforts in motherhood, invisible as they may seem, are worth it and can make an enriching life.


For many of us, the way we choose to hold our invisibility at bay is by creating something tangible. For me, my days often end with knitting - my love of fiber and the need to do something relaxing end up producing something I can hold and look at. Nobody will know how many times I swept under the high chair that day, or how many toys I picked up, or how many times I tried to coax a "please" or "more" or "sorry" out of my 5 year old. But a darling, handmade infant hat? That you can see.


I start new projects every day, and my 10 year old does the same. In this process of creating (and yes, often not finishing our projects!) we connect with each other and a bigger picture of ourselves in the process. My plan for this blog is to share the projects that excite me and bring some accessible proof of my existence in this invisible world of mothering!


So, this blog is dedicated to the mothers out there whose days are filled with the minutia of tasks that build our children and our families. I often tell people that I haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up. But for now, I am the builder of a great cathedral. With every shoelace tied, lunch packed, and forehead kissed, I build.


And I can hardly wait to create something new...


Thursday, February 10, 2011

All Things BFF

With Valentine's Day only 4 days away, today has been deemed "serious Valentine craftiness day." (Btw, I did finish my laundry first thing this morning in the spirit of 'git 'er done!) Rowan's first task was to decorate a box for school. Luckily the Kleenex box in the powder room was almost empty, so we stole it. (Is it gross that I left the small stack of leftover Kleenex sitting on the back of the toilet?  I'll ponder on that.) I asked if Rowan wanted the box covered in plain paper or wrapping paper, and she chose our new $1 bin Target paper, which I deftly affixed to the box, leaving the slot open on the top. We got out stickers and some beaded fringe from past projects and went to town!
The next task was to finish her classmate's valentines. She had about half of them done earlier this week and they turned out darling! It was hard for me to not hover at first, offering to cut hearts out or smooth rough edges (of which there are plenty) and although I reminded her over and over that she needed to make the valentines big enough for me to hot glue the candy to, they kept getting smaller and smaller. Every single valentine has a handwritten "BFF" in the middle. At one point she turned to me and said she wasn't sure she wanted to put BFF on a particular child's valentine. I told her she didn't have to. "Too late," she said. "I already did it in pen."

She is so proud to have them done.  Big check off the 7-year old to-do list!


Now it's nap time, and my project this afternoon is to catch up on our family photo album. I've done the hard part - choosing which photos will be included - and have them printed and in hand. Now my task is to sift through my mom's Shutterfly site to make sure I didn't miss anything major. She often takes pictures at times when I forget to - thanks for being my back-up photographer, Mom! You are my BFF!!!!

1 comment:

  1. Awww, thanks Heather. :) You are my BFF, too, (along with a number of others). See, just like Rowan, I've gotta share/spread the love, you know?

    Man, those are some precious hand-made Valentines - rough edges making them even more so, and the collecting box is charming!! Fun times, eh?

    I put a few cards in the mail today and hope they make it by Monday. If not, you will FEEL my love from across the miles, card or not!

    As for those Kleenex in a little pile on the back of the powder room toilet... I think it's only marginally gross. After all, even a box of Kleenex sitting there has some of the tissue exposed, so what the heck? Let it all hang out!

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