The following post is from one of my favorite people in the world, Jill at Diaper Diaries:
I love Impress Your Kids. It is in my reader, I absolutely adore its author Amanda, and I am committed to raising my kids to know God. But can I be honest with you? Sometimes I read it and it just makes me feel like a failure as a mom.
Now I know that is the last thing on earth Impress Your Kids is meant to do. It is meant to encourage and bless moms who desperately want their children to grow up with a foundation in Christ.
But I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I have done crafts with my kids. Just thinking about doing them gives me hives. I read about all these adorable crafts Amanda does with her kids, and meaningful crafts with deep spiritual lessons no less, and think…. well honestly I think, just shoot me now.
Is it possible to be a great mom and hate doing crafts with them?
Here is the deal as I see it (so you can take that for what it is worth). I have read a decent amount of the Bible nowhere have I found a verse that says “Thou must be crafty.” I know the Proverbs 31 woman sews clothes, but it never talks about her taking egg cartons and turning them into caterpillars to teach her children about the resurrection.
There is so much mommy guilt to go around. Working vs. Stay at Home. Breastfeeding vs. Bottle. Let’s not add crafty vs. hopelessly unable to use glue without losing it. I am pretty sure if it is my job to represent Jesus to my children then crafting is the last thing I should be doing. Nothing brings out my non-Christlikeness like glitter.
So I save the crafts for VBS and Sunday school. Oh and Grandma Day. But we do a ton of singing about Jesus. We do plays and ballets and concerts. We might even do a play acting out a bible story here and there (sans puppets. Puppets are creepy). {editors note: Jill, puppets are NOT creepy!}
But it doesn’t really matter what your thing is. What matters is that we are investing quality time with our children. Spend time looking for teachable moments to point them towards Jesus. Listen when they ask questions about their faith. And most importantly all the crafts, songs and puppets in the world aren’t going to matter if our lives don’t model what we teach them about.
Are we focused on the right thing? Are we focused on the right person? At the end of the day it isn’t remotely about us and how good of a mom we are. We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to have all the answers. But our lives should point our kids towards the One that is perfect and the One that is the answer to their every question.
How do YOU point your kids toward God?
Jill is the author of The Diaper Diaries. She has been changing diapers for 6+ years as a stay at home mom of three children. She also has a devoted husband who graciously puts up with this little internet hobby. They all probably wish she would exercise a bit more discretion as she shares their life’s ups, downs and in-betweens with anyone willing to read it. You can (almost always) find her on Twitter @DiaperDiaries.
I LOVE this. Crafts irritate me. My kids doing crafts irritate me more. I joined a particular Mom’s Club {where I met Jill…} because they did not make me do crafts. I really hope my anti-craft personality does not stand between me and Jesus, ’cause if it does I am in BIG trouble.
I was part of a marketing focus group last night and we were talking about Pinterest. I explained that I am not crafty and a hush fell over the crowd. It was awful.
thank you! i was never very crafty and in college had 3 roommates who were all really crafty, were elem. ed. majors, and were going to be awesome mothers. it took me a long to realize that i didn’t have to be like them to be a good mother and point my kids to christ.
i am still trying to get over the stigma that i have to make my bed every morning in order to be a “good housekeeper.” 🙂
we heap enough guilt on ourselves as christian mothers, we should extend grace to others. and celebrate the fact that god made us all unique!
Wait, I have to make my bed to be a good housekeeper???
Actually, I read where you want to leave your bed unmade for at least an hour after getting out of it so that it can dry properly to keep it healthy and clean. Dark moist places are a breeding ground for all sorts of nasties and we ALL sweat in our sleep. 🙂 So NOT making your bed makes you a good housekeeper.
I wouldn’t mind crafts so much… at someone else’s house, with their supplies, and their mess. 🙂 I have a hard enough time around here keeping up with the messes we don’t INTENTIONALLY MAKE. Ha!
My quality time with the kids includes cooking and reading and attending all sorts of community functions.
You and me, Jill… we’re okay. 😉 Oh, and Amanda… she rocks!
Whew!! 😉
I am a Christian and a mother of a two-year old girl. Upon reading this post, can’t help but feel guilt because I always assign the task of helping my girl with her crafts to my hubby. But then again, Jill was right. As long as we spend quality time with our kids, we are still being a good mother. God is fair after all. He may have not given me talent in crafts but He gave me other talents to use for my child.
Loved this post! I LOVE kiddy crafts – I’m terrible at crafting but kid stuff is SO forgiving. I’m pathetic at singing, and I absolutely HATE play-acting, which my daughter prefers a million times over the crafts I try to get her to do.
You’ve put it all in perspective here… 🙂
I know what you talking about 🙂 I hate this too!
i dont like doing craft with my kids, but i dont think it is bad it is my nature thats all
You are right about this idea, “What matters is that we are investing quality time with our children.”. The fact that we love them, love to spend time with them and care for them, that’s also what God expected from parents when He gave them kids. My child and I watched Christian animated movies.
I’m a very crafty person, but I HATE kiddie crafts and I really don’t want to deal with the mess of paint/glitter/playdough with a 4 year-old… (shudder) I save the crafts for after he goes to bed, then I have my fun without his mess.