Have you circled the shopping mall endlessly looking for that perfect gift? Maybe you have put the full brakes on the car when you seen a vendor on the side of the road selling flowers in a tub on the way to your mom’s house. Finding that perfect gift seems so far fetched when the answer is pretty obvious. I have learned in my life that the best moments are the ones that don’t usually involve money or buying something out of character of the person who is receiving it. The true gift is time. Yes… time. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mother’s Day or not, it can be any day. It doesn’t matter if the mom is a new mother or a well seasoned mother where she’s done her time and the kids have moved on out. The time together doing something as simple as baking cookies, sitting together to crochet or knit or maybe even just taking the time to truly listen to each other’s feelings. In being a step-parent for about 5 years, I realized that I could buy the kids all that they wanted. They would get the gift, the instant gratification is there and gone so quickly. I realized pretty quickly that the true value isn’t within the gift but it’s within the time of being with them. We adopted family night as a night to craft together. I cannot express enough how much I learned about them while sitting down gluing Popsicle sticks together to make the world’s ugliest house. At the end of the evening, though we would celebrate what we created together, my house was ugly but my heart was filled with admiration of taking the time to listen. While at a local craft show in Toronto recently, I witnessed so many mothers and daughters together. They were using the show as time to let the kids stay home to climb up the walls while they let creativity being their bond on the show floor. Usually the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree for mothers and daughters to be engaged in the same craft. Sometimes I would meet a mother who knits while the daughter loves to crochet. Does it really matter they aren’t doing the same yarn craft? Absolutely not. Sometimes I would wonder, based on the personalities if the daughter just decided to do another craft just because mom was doing the other. It’s sometimes harder to teach the people who are closest to us. Creativity connects us and breaks the ice when other topics can be hard to digest or be interested in. As we get closer to Mother’s Day, think about the times you had with your Mom. But especially think hard about the times you most enjoyed and you may be like me, it was the time you had spent together. In the meantime, let me get you some free patterns to consider. Next time you are together, you can explore some creativity with these patterns: 1 - Bernat Poinsettia Gift Topper 2 - Caron Hearts and Stars Dream Catchers 3 - Caron Kid`s Craft Until next week, have fun and be creative! Featured Yarns
