Tag: arts and crafts

Posted in grandparenting

An afternoon of Valentines crafts!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Three of our granddaughters spent the day with us yesterday, ages 6, 4, and almost 2. Will it be hard to entertain them for the day, while their mom sought to regain some sanity until dad got back from a ski trip? Nope.

Valentine’s day is just around the corner. Baking and crafts are on the menu. We already had some small heart-shaped sugar cookies baked. I am amazed at how quickly the two older girls could load them up with icing and bury them under a mountain of white, pink, and red heart-shaped sprinkles. (Don’t worry about the youngest. She was busy dumping out buckets of toys on the back patio.)

On to the next project: making valentines. I was equipped with a pile of pink, white, and red construction paper, markers and crayons, and some Valentines washi tape.

They were so ready. “I’m going to make a Valentine for my mom, cause I love her so much.” “I love my mom, too.” And we were off.

Each started with a pink sheet of construction paper folded in half and a pink marker. Don’t even try to suggest a different color. Not going to happen.

They were fascinated by my ability to cut out various heart shapes as they drew elaborate pictures of family on their cards.

“Do you want to glue on some of these hearts?”

“Glue? Oh, yes!” I had them apply glue to back of the small hearts with a small brush. They knew exactly where to stick each one. Just keep them coming.

As they worked on that, I showed them how to make a person from a heart-shaped doily and accordion-folded strips of paper. “I want to make one of those.” And so we did. And they did a really good job.

As they completed their Valentines, I glued a doily heart to the top of a spiral-cut piece of paper, making a little springy Valentines thingy. They got to take those home, too.

We worked for about an hour while the youngest took her nap. I am not sure who had more fun: me or them. Of course it brought back vivd memories of doing this with my children decades ago. It never gets old.

What about dad? I know he’ll get a hug and a kiss, and maybe a picture, but at that age, mom’s the one who gets the majority of the love.

Posted in grandparenting, Life

Mother’s Day preparation

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I spent some time with my nine- and five-year-old grandsons yesterday while my daughter took my wife out for an early Mother’s Day brunch. When they show up at my house, the boys typically chase the dogs around, climb and swing on the play fort, and exercise with all the garage gym equipment. Yesterday the older rode his long board up and down the street while the younger did a few odd jobs to earn a few quarters. But then it was time for the main attraction.

One of my grandfatherly tasks was to get them working on Mother’s Day cards. I printed out a few card templates I found online, got out our bucket of crayons, and announced it was time to get to work.

To my surprise, they dove into the project with passion. They took their time carefully coloring the cards rather than hurried scribbling. Each was proud of his work, showing off color combinations and attention to detail. I enjoyed watching the “I love my mom!” side of the boys that is usually hidden behind a young man’s “What can I climb?” “How can I annoy my brother?” and (while hanging upside down from something) “Look what I can do!”

The five-year-old was filled with pride as he wrote his message inside the card, along with a bonus picture. The older thought, “I need to get her a present.” Boys definitely need a dad, but they sure love their moms!

I got a whole hour of focused worked out of them before they started asking about lunch. That’s impressive.