About

Sandboxes and Sticky Back Felt symbolize how I've come to approach being a mom to my kids. I'm not saying that anyone else should approach motherhood in this way, and I'm not saying that I am this kind of mother all the time, but after 5 (blessed) years of being a mom, I've learned that this approach feels the best to me.

I want to enjoy my time with my family and try to make it special for all of us.  However, I know that if I go crazy with grand ideas, or if I try to do everything perfectly, I'll be a big stress-ball.  My family won't want to be with me, and I won't want to be with them. That's where Sandboxes and Sticky Back Felt come in:

Sandboxes...

My toddler is incredibly lovable, but incredibly active, too. It's hard for me to keep him entertained all the time, and I find it hard to "enjoy the moment" when he's overwhelming me with his energy, or having a temper tantrum.  The sandbox is one of the simplest things I have that keeps him busy and happy.  It's no big deal for me to bring him out there, and when he's there, I can delight in watching him play, discover, and have fun.

and Sticky Back Felt

My oldest kid really loves the PBS show Wild Kratts.  On the show, 2 animal-loving brothers have special "Creature Power Suits" and technology that allow them to take on animal "creature powers."  Oldest Kid was about to turn 5, and we were going to have family over to celebrate.  I knew he would love for it to be a Wild Kratts party.  The plan was to keep it simple with whatever food he wanted to serve (you know, hamburgers or pizza or something), some Wild Kratts games I found online, and a cool cake made by his Memere.

I wanted to keep it simple, but I also really enjoy planning parties. I like putting together special touches that the guests, especially the guest of honor, will enjoy, and I like to be creative and crafty.  As I was planning, I couldn't stop thinking that the kids would love to have Creature Power Suits like the ones I saw on Pinterest and some of the mommy blogs out there.  But the thought of making them overwhelmed me, especially since a lot of the moms used actual fabric-store fabric and sewing machines to make them.  I figured I could skirt around that issue by cutting up tee shirts if I could find them cheap enough, but what about the special design on the front?  What would I use to make it?  If I used felt, would it take me forever to trace and cut the patterns?  And then what the heck would I use to glue them to the shirts (cuz there was no way I was sewing anything...)?  The whole process had enormous potential to be a big stressful pain in the neck that would keep me up late at night and near to tears if whatever glue+felt+tee shirt formula I came up with didn't work.  With a round-the-clock nursing newborn, I just couldn't afford to do that.

I took some "me" time (with a baby, of course, but nevertheless) and went to the craft store to see what I could come up with.  It was then that I discovered Sticky Back Felt.  Genius.  Seriously, cue the choir of angels.  It's a sheet of felt with adhesive on the back.  The paper on the other side of the adhesive made it easy for me to trace the designs, cut them, and slap them on 8 shirts in the time it took me to watch two episodes of Modern Family. It was a simple yet creative outlet that I really needed that week, and it allowed me to do something for my sons and their cousins that they all really enjoyed.  It made me feel good, and they had fun.

And that's what the idea of Sandboxes and Sticky Back Felt comes down to: I want my kids, my husband, and I to enjoy each other's company, and I want to do what I can to make our life special and fun, but no one's having fun if I'm stressed.  When I stick to the simplicity of things like sandboxes and sticky back felt, things go okay.  We enjoy each other, and I can see the fun and humor in the life that we share.

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How do you find the fun and humor in parenting? What do you do to keep things simple? Please share your ideas in the comments section.