Crafts By Linda Stowe
I have never been to a Hobby Lobby. That is not because of political reasons but because they don’t sell anything I have an interest in. I’ve never been to a Bass Pro shop or a Dick’s Sporting Goods store either. I’m not what you’d call a hobbyist.
When I was a kid, I was exposed to these activities. In the lower grades, we learned to paint and make things with clay. We were encouraged to take what we produced home to our parents, but I usually ditched mine before it made it home. It was the least I could do. I had no interest in seeing my latest fingerpaint picture or misshapen clay ashtray on display in our home.
No, I could never see the point of crafts. My mother and grandmother sewed and crocheted, and their homes were filled with their efforts. I learned how to do both, but my interest stopped once the expectation was removed. I suppose that’s what childhood is about, exposing a kid to as many options as possible. My brother developed a lifelong interest in carpentry and my sister went on to get a degree in art. As for me, I’m still looking.
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Polly here.
This made me think about my own life.
I have been to a Hobby Lobby. And a Dick’s Sporting Goods. But never to a Bass Pro, thank goodness. (Banish the Hook!).
Even though I have been to these places, I would not say that I am a hobbyist either. Heaven knows I’m not crafty. I do have an average level of creativity. But it goes in directions other than crafts.
But what struck me the most about Linda’s piece was this line: “I suppose that’s what childhood is about, exposing a kid to as many options as possible.”
I think we are lucky if our parents did this for us. So many parents don’t. They leave these types of explorations in the charge of schools and summer camps.
As children, we grow and learn by being exposed to the world around us. This is largely directed by those who guide that exposure along. We can only hope that it will be good.
In these recent years, there seem to be a lot of people wishing to control the influences of our children, restricting it with “religious” values only. This worries me because I fear that it is crossing a dangerous line.
I rather liked the days of handprint ashtrays and those little wooden boxes with glitter glued to the lid.
It just seemed better, somehow.
Crafts By Linda Stowe
