When I Listen

Today I had a card project I wanted to finish. Making cards is a great love of mine. I enjoy the process, the diversity, the discovery, the methods...I just love to escape into a project. In real life, however, I can't always escape. Today I had two babysitting kids, five of my own at home, and somebody, something, always seems to need me. I was still determined to finish this card. At one point in my day, two kids were at sports practices, another was busy in her summer major (more on that in another post...), the little kids were busy with building Lego creations and I thought I might could slip into my cards...

The only one who was not engrossed in something was Josephine. Joey is five. She is just adorable, and I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm her Mom; she has huge brown eyes and luscious curly hair and a demure way about her. She's our dancer and our Mom-wanna-be. Another quality of Josephine's - persistence. Wow. Seriously to the point of nagging and whining.

So while I wanted to work on my card project, Joey wanted me to play with her. I told her to go play in her room, I told her to join in with the little kids, I told her to jump on the trampoline, brush her hair, watch a movie, color a picture, play on my iPhone, sweep the floor - ANYTHING! To every suggestion of mine, hers was the same, No, Mom; come play. Josephine, I said, just let me get this done.

I went back into card-land and Josephine persisted. Play, Mom. No, Jo. Okay, she said. I want to make a card.

Now let me just say that the kids are NOT supposed to touch my stuff. My toys. And I get very nervous when little kids come close enough to touch. I'm not really proud of how possessive I am, but, these are my toys, and the ladies and Jay have heard from the very first: don't touch Mom's toys.

I relented. I gave Joey some scraps from my project, a punch and some stamps. I kept a close eye on her. In no time, she had arranged a nice pattern, tacked it all down and added some sparkle. Next she was asking me for spellings because she was writing inside her card. She had made a thank you card for her friend who had taken her swimming last week. What a sweet little lady.

I was trying to get rid of her, and she was a natural at making a card. I'm such a better Mom when I listen.