Our Heart Attack*

February 10, 2012 at 8:52 am | Posted in Giggles, Lollipop, Transylvania | 19 Comments
Tags: Children, Crafts, Creativity, Expats, Family, Kids, Motherhood, Pinterest, Romania, Winter

Spoiler Alert: Are you married to or related to me? Then do not read this until after February 14. (I mean it, Mom!)

So you might have heard that it’s cold here in Eastern Europe. Record-breaking cold. Politicians-resigning cold. Hair-freezing cold. (Note to self: Do not go outside until at least 90 minutes after shampooing.)

Sledding? Skating? Snowman-building? My kids want nothing to do with it. Hence, we are stuck in the house. And we seem to have lost our quiet voices. Along with any interest in sprawling on the couch and watching hours of brain-melting cartoons … despite a little, um, begging on my part.

But I still have my sanity. (Really, I do.) How? you ask.

Arts. Crafts. And empty toilet-paper tubes.

I have no idea what to do with Lego wheels. Or “easy-to-configure” train tracks. Or Barbie shoes that just won’t stay on. But give me some card stock, pipe cleaners, and a Valentine’s Day Pinterest board? And a-crafting we will go. All. Weekend. Long.

Portable hugs? Check. (No pictures because I spent the entirety of the project choking back sobs over the volume of glitter being spilled on tables, floors, and toes.)

Old crayons turned new again? Check. Lollipop and I spent an hour or so arduously peeling labels from violet-red and red-violet nubs. We chatted about how tricky it seemed. And we agreed we were thankful for cheap Romanian crayons whose paper wrappers practically slid right off. (Damn you, Crayola, and your quality product.)

“I Love You Because” books for Daddy? Check. We went large on this one and broke into our precious felt and buttons cache.  (He’s totally worth it.) We experienced a momentary setback when Lollipop and Giggles realized I had made the covers different. (“How come he got a heart button?” and “Hey, hers has two buttons!!” and so forth.) But I fixed my “Stern Mommy” gaze upon them and we moved along …

Right to the recycling bin. Toilet-paper-roll finger puppets? Check. With eyelashes.

Craft hard or go home, that’s our motto.

Well, that, and there’s no such thing as too many stickers … And if all else fails, glue it … And buttons don’t go in your nose … And it’s not over until someone eats glitter … And …

What’s your crafting motto(s)? Which do you wield better: a Lego wheel or a color wheel? And how do you pass the time when marooned with bored children?

*See, even the title of this post comes from a Pinterest pin, one I am indeed planning to implement next Tuesday.

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This post is part of MEP’s Real Women of Pinterest series. Join in as we celebrate collaborative creativity (and the power of glue guns).

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Fluffy Bunnies in Romania:
Read the tales. See the photos.