Making Christmas Gifts

My mother is a professional seamstress and crafter. The sign hanging outside her home says, “Unique Designs by Betty.” She is well known in the community as one who can beautifully remake a wedding gown (or design one from scratch), copy a pair of overalls and construct a new pair, or just hem a mound of pants. You can bet she’s taught me most of what she knows but I don’t enjoy that kind of work. So, she has enjoyed many hours with her grandchildren passing on the knowledge that we desperately want to hang onto.

With that in mind, I asked her that, for Christmas this year, she spend one morning a week for the months of November and December with my little boys (7 and 9) making gifts. She was thrilled. She took this task on very seriously and spent weeks pouring over her library of crafting books for ideas that they would like and were capable of doing.

So, for the last six weeks or so, they have been spending Tuesday mornings cutting, painting, stringing, coloring, and sewing. Finally, this week, they spent their time wrapping the gifts and then next week, they will spend their morning making candy and cookies before mom (Nana) flies out to spend Christmas with my sister in Florida.

Can I buy an art curriculum to replace this experience?

Many years ago mom took on the task of teaching my daughter everything she knows about sewing. Beginning when she was 8, Nana and M. spent one morning a week for several years, sewing. They still sew together on a regular basis. M. often helps her on jobs that she gets and, if she felt inclined, M. could generate her own sewing business.

Can I buy a home ec curriculum to replace this experience?

The answer to both these questions is No. Oh, the curriculum exists. But no curriculum can replace the hands on experience. No curriculum can replace the one-on-one student/teacher ratio. No curriculum can replace the relationship building between a grandmother and her grandchildren.

You don’t have to live on a homestead to put this into practice, either. Grandmothers (and grandfathers) with lost skills live in urban areas, too. If you don’t have any grandparents living, elderly neighbors or church friends would love the opportunity to spend time with young people. All you have to do is ask.

Hope this gives you something to think about.

Blessings,