Then, one Saturday in November, she asked me urgently for some socks to make a craft. And with no help from me, she made her brother a sock baby. She stuffed it with wool scraps and drew its face on with a Sharpie. She cut some fabric into a robe and sash. Then she made a sock baby for herself.
Boy, was she happy! She told me triumphantly that she has a baby now and doesn't need one for Christmas. We had a convivial little talk about the satisfaction of creating things with our hands from scraps. I was so encouraged that she is picking up our values and skills!
Because this is an unusual moment in the last few months.
I've noticed that Genevieve is really interested in money and buying things for herself. We are trying to guide her to save money for worthwhile things or to be generous to other people with her money, but I'm not sure we are making any headway in a world where there is so much pressure to consume and be selfish. She has some very nice toys that she never plays with at all, but she still begs for more.
I try to walk the line between acknowledging her natural childish state (and mine!) and guiding her to be content (as I want to be also!).
Ben named his sock baby Appolonia, by the way, which he learned from a children's book we have called The Egg Tree. Genevieve named hers Hope. And now their family is complete - they have babies.
7 comments:
Great job, Genevieve ... it's a wonderful feeling to make something yourself and be pleased with it, or have the person you're giving it to be pleased with it. I think those babies are sweet.
And all I can say to mom is that in our experience, it can take many, many (MANY) times of reinforcing a lesson before it starts to be lived and breathed. But it wouldn't happen without your teaching and modeling. Yay for dogged persistence!
I LOVE this post. Oh, the joy of creating, and being satisfied with what we have!
Enjoyed this. Sweet and honest.
:-)
I still have a sweet little teddy bear, about 5" tall, that my 5 or 6 year old cousin, Micah (Rebecca's brother!) made me for Christmas when I was a baby. I still treasure it :-)
I am so proud of Genevieve. Not only did she make herself a baby ,but her brother also.. she went and got the supplies and did it all by herself.. What an accomplishment..
As for her wanting to spend money.. I don't think you have anything to worry about.. I think she is learning from her sweet mama!!! Your teaching your children is paying off, and as they get older, you will continue to see this.. I was amazed that she stated, she no longer needed a baby , because she had one now..
Hope you and family have a blessed /happy Christmas.
This is so sweet! I love your kids' simplicity.
Just enjoy! Don't worry :)
I think that it's part of being human to want more. What's great is to stay creative and notice that you can satisfy that urge with something you make.
Maybe a "boughten" baby doll would have been satisfying, and that would be okay. I've seen the dolls out there, though, so I'm guessing not!
Good for her.
That is a tremendously heat-warming tale, Margo. It can be so hard to balance in this pro-consumer world, even as an adult I feel this and I can only imagine its more so in the youngsters. This is quite encouraging though. Quite. Not to mention precious.
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