Tucker came home with a half-page assignment description:
In the PreK classroom, we are learning about families.
Please create a Family Crest.
At the top, put your family's name.
One one side, show the foods your family enjoys.
On the other side, show the things your family likes to do together.
At the bottom, display pictures of your family.
A School Project. The wheels in my head began to spin. After all, I'm a (former) scrapbooker. (I say former because I switched to blogging years ago. See? On the plus side, there is much more documentation than I ever would have accomplished with acid free products. On the flip side, Tyler has nearly nothing hardbound in our house to show his arrival and first year in our family. So, you know.) Ultimately, this looked like a scrapbooking task, and I was ready to break out the colored paper, stickers, and of course the pictures.
And as I got to work, Robb said ever-so-casually, "Um, what are you doing? Why are you doing Tucker's homework?"
Gasp. I just became That Mom.
Suddenly, I had flashbacks into my classroom, when students displayed their animal reports and projects. Anyone could clearly distinguish the ones the students had been in charge of, as opposed to, well, the others. One little girl even said, "Well, first my mom found a pattern for a panda online. Then my mom went to Michael's to buy the fabric. Then my mom... then my mom... then my mom..."
My Mom.
See, the thing is, her mom had already finished third grade. I hadn't assigned the project for Mom to repeat it again. It was more so for her eight-year-old daughter.
And yet, suddenly, here I was: shaping my son's artwork to display my skills. Not so much his.
Awesome. That's a fun look in the ol' mirror.
So, we rerouted the plan. I began by inviting Tucker to join me at the table, since that seemed like a great place to start.
After lots of cooperation, cutting, gluing, and teamwork, I present to you: Our Family Crest.
And of course, from the other side of the kitchen table: Tyler's independent project.
1 comment:
I like a great many things about this post. Primarily: the finished products. Both of them. And then also the little fact that you just went to town because, let's face it, which creative mom doesn't enjoy a little afternoon project.
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