arts & crafts night

How long has it been since you've had a good ol' arts and crafts night? I think it's safe to say that it's been quite some time for me, but I had one such night last evening.

Anytime I hear the words "school" and "project" in the same sentence, I automatically get a bit edgy. Beads of sweat start to form on my brow as if I were in a sauna. Why the apprehension? I guess there are two reasons. First, I didn't care for them growing up. Second, my angelic offspring tend to take the word "procrastination" to a new level. There have been many times over the years that the bride and I were working well into the night on a project for the angels that was due the following day. Because of this, I now have a new rule - all school projects have to be completed 2 days before they're due. That way, if something terrible happens, we've got an extra 24 hours.

We started on Sunday night. Sara was to create a timeline of her life using photographs. She was to arrange the pictures on poster board sequentially and draw a timeline. We looked through a 36" x 18" box of pictures, and she came up with 10. Of course the ones we thought were so cute, she hated. ("Oh, but Sara, this one of you on the potty is so sweet!") Long story short, we spent around 2 1/2 hours completing the project last night. (This was the bride's "Bunco" night. We begged her to stay home, but once you get the gambling addiction in your blood.....) And Sara actually thanked me several times while we were working on it. She didn't whine or complain, so that actually made it bearable. Plus, since Meg was babysitting, it gave us some one-on-one time, and that was nice. The upside is that we don't have to rush around like crazy tonight. The project is complete, so the deadline is now moot.

Report cards come out either today or tomorrow for both girls. This will determine how much phone time Meg will get, and how much TV time Sara will get. I'm amazed at how the threat of losing phone privileges can be so much motivation to a teenaged girl.

After a short parent/teacher conference with Sara's teacher this afternoon (Sara's only complaint so far this year is being stuck sitting beside/across from an extremely gassy little boy), I hope to be able to relax and stay away from any arts and crafts. I'm still trying to get the Elmer's glue off my hands......