Day 139: something to work on

I got to preschool this morning to pick up Sam and the teacher pulled me aside (oh crap!).  Conversation went as follows:

Teacher: Sam is having some issues being outside.  She seems to really hate being cold.  Today she didn't want to play and hated wearing her gloves.  She stood by the door and begged to go back inside.

Abbie: Sorry.  Her hands do tend to get colder faster than other kids but normally she is pretty good about toughing it out.

Teacher: You may want to start having her outside more often so that she gets use to the elements and is more comfortable outdoors.  Just something to work on at home.

Abbie: (with sarcasm in my voice): We will work on that.

Good grief! Seriously? It's MY kid that doesn't want to play outside?  That does not look good.  The teacher and other moms don't know that I have this blog and now I certainly can't tell them that the mom of the ONE kid that complains about being outside has a blog all about teaching her kids to love nature.  Crap.

But point taken - we need even more outside time to toughen my kid up!

Moving on...something else to work on. My crafting skills. In the spirit of this non-plastic, homemade toy Christmas I have been wanting to think of something that I could make for Sam.  Then I saw this tutorial. I instantly thought, I can do that!  So today while BOTH girls (allelulia!) were sleeping I got to work. I didn't have the exact supplies that we needed but I thought I could wing it. 

 
  I used a stained onsie of Avery's that could not be saved for someone else, some left over wooden rod from other projects, ribbon and beads that we had in our crafting supplies.  The sewing was the hardest part because I don't have a machine or any real skills in that area.  Other than that it was just a whole lot of hot glue! 

 
I swung it around for a few minutes once it was all together to make sure it would hold up and the strings instantly became a tangled hot mess.  Clearly ribbon (like they use in the tutorial!) would be better choice! Oh well, she won't care.  Do you see that I put an "S" bead on it for her? Pretty proud of myself for finding that in the bead bin!

So this will be in Sam's stocking this year.  And even though it is not perfect and may not last that long I am pretty proud of myself that I made her something for Christmas.

Are you making anything for your kiddos this Christmas?  There is lots of inspiration out there in blog world if you have crafting skills.  But apparently you can attempt crafts even if you don't!

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The Nitty Gritty!

I am not going to give you a tutorial on how to make this because mine is certainly not a good example of what it should look like! If you like the idea head on over to Handmade Tuesday's at Ladybug Blessings for the tutorial.  The instructions there are great. And the author of the post is actually Tammy who blogs here.  You should go check her out because she has the most adorable "Thankful" book tutorial up on her site right now.  No chance I am that talented but it is still fun to dream!

Comments

[Angela]

Oh good grief! Don't you love those conversations. One thing about school in most places: it seems is that there barely any room for individuality-believe me we go through that here, and our kids go to a good school too. To hear my mom talk about it, in the past teachers rarely bothered parents with things like "work on being outside". Didn't it just get a little chilly up there? What happened to the gift of time? When did it start being the norm to 'talk to' parents about every little minute thing as if we don't have enough on our plate. Molehill meet mountain. I am sure she will be fine. Rant over, sorry. ;)

[amber]

Oh Goodness! Your kids spend more time outside than most I know. Maybe she was just cold and there wasn't anything fun to distract her attention. I woiuldn't worry about it too much. And I agree with Angela, if the worst thing a 2 year old wants to do is go inside on a cold day, I would say that is a pretty small thing.

Anyway, I love your wand...you did a great job! I'm making my kids and my nephews superhero capes for Christmas. (my mom is doing the sewing, as I have realized I have no skills at this)

[Tami S]

I taught myself to crochet a couple months back and have been busily plugging away at making hats and other crochet goodies. I'm even having a small table at the craft fair at work Friday. Maybe I'll donate one for you to give away on your blog? I make some pretty crafty owl hats... Makes you feel so proud to make something with your hands, doesn't it?

[Cheryl]

I love your wand and there is something so wonderful to create something special for your children. She will love it. I can see her casting spells already.

Echoing everyone else - don't worry about "the talk". I can understand your reaction. Most mothers have been there. It may say more about the teacher's frustration about not being able to cope with the situation. If there was something really interesting going on outside, most children won't even acknowledge that it is cold.

[Amber]

Personally I don't like going outside when it's cold either.

[Tammy]

I'm totally laughing at your preschool experience--sheesh! What does the teacher care if your child doesn't want to play outside in the cold??

And you did a stellar job on that wand! I love your version!! Just so you know, it gets just as tangled when it is ribbon - no worries. Thanks for the shout out.

I have a no-sew (glue only-yay!) version of the fabric thankful book coming up tomorrow or Friday. Never fear, I get the fact that not everyone sews or wants to sew. ;)

[sarah@theunwrapping]

i always find that changes of season take my kids off guard. sure, you've been outside a ton this fall...but, um, fall has been warm! so, it will take a little bit for her to get used to being out in regular autumn weather! at this age, they may not really remember what it was like in early spring when we still wore mittens, etc. it's a whole new world...

[Amy A]

Thank you for the Blog Award!!!I'm *hoping* to get to responding to it on my blog this weekend. Life has been quite insane.

As a preschool teacher myself, I am puzzled by your experience. There are so many great things you can do with children outdoors in the cold that are engaging and that keep them warm! I had to almost literally drag my crew in today from the snow, and you could tell they were cold! I have had a number of children come through who don't really dislike the cold as much as they dislike their winter clothing... It all gets better with time. Who knows, perhaps the teacher was having a bad day..... Let it go, put it all in perspective.

In regard to arts and crafts.... all it takes is exposure and practice. One of the things I work very hard to do with "blown ups" is to remind them that we are all artists. We all have the ability to create, somewhere along the line, we forgot that! Look at how excited young children are when they work with materials.... It just takes exposure and practice with some basic skills. I love that you are making homemade gifts! I used to do a lot more of that, but alas, time seems to be somewhat limited these days!

[Pop]

D2 is the same way - if she's exposed to remotely cold temps for even a bit, her hands and feet feel like they are freezing. And you really SHOULD get your kids out more :-P

Love the premise of this blog!

[KLZ]

You know, kids just always seem to know which thing they can do that will make you feel the weirdest. Like not wanting to be outside while you're teaching them about nature.