Monday, November 24, 2014

Why I hate Pinterest ..sometimes



It all started when I decided I needed some new clothes.
Then I went shopping...and came back with nothing.
So I said...you know what? I have a sewing machine.

I'm going to start sewing more.

So I bought a sewing cabinet.

And spent about a zillion hours on Pinterest drooling over DIY tutorials.


I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.

I now have a gajillion different skirts to sew and fifty sweaters to refashion...
not to mention, the million and a half toddler crafts and sensory activities
I should have been doing since my children were 6 months old.


say WHAT!?


Apparently I am waaay behind.

We should have been stringing macaroni, playing in rice buckets, and painting with edible yogurt....

and now my kids are lagging behind everyone else and will probably
be doomed to failure.

all because I didn't give them enough sensory activities.

-insert failure of a mom face here-


So here it is....my woeful apology to my children...


I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I didn't give you pipe cleaners to string through a spaghetti strainer.
I'm sorry I didn't put paint inside gallon ziplocs, 
tape them to a table, and let you smear away.
I'm sorry I didn't spend hours dying pounds upon 
pounds of spaghetti so you could feel the slippery noodles
while we learned our colors.


I'm sorry.
I made you boxed macaroni and cheese and let you eat it with your hands.
I'm sorry I took you outside and helped you collect leaves and squirrel nuts while we talked about how God made everything.
I'm sorry I spent hours washing your clothes and cloth diapers, folding them, putting them away...while you "helped" in your own special way.
I'm sorry I helped you sort m&ms into piles while I snuck most of them into my own mouth when you weren't looking.




For every mom who feels like a Pinterest failure...

its time to stop obsessing about being the perfect DIY mom.
And just... be a mom.

My babies follow me all over the house while I keep the house clean and in order.
We fold laundry together and Liberty likes to help put it away
(which explains Noah's sock drawer)
Grady loves to play with tupperware and the salad spinner while I cook.

Yes...they are always under my feet and there are days when naptime is the only time of day I can use the bathroom with the door closed.
(which, by the way, isn't necessary since they're in bed anyway
...but its the principle behind it)

But I do adore my little people...
I think we can get too wrapped up in what everyone else is doing
and start to feel like we're lacking in the 'cool parent' department.

My mom didn't have Pinterest. I don't think she ever made me homemade play dough.  In fact, play dough was too messy for our house.
And the only rainbow colored spaghetti I experienced was spaghettios.

My mom took me with her everywhere, gave me chores to do and when I got too crazy she sent me outside to pull weeds.
She fed me Lucky Charms and wrote me notes for my school lunch box.

I managed a spot in every 'gifted' extracurricular class since 4th grade, graduated with honors, and made deans list in college.


But if only I had played with rice in a bucket...


...I really could have been great.




And thats why I hate Pinterest sometimes.