Mad About Scrappin Challenges

Here are my takes on the last few challenges over at Mad About Scrappin.

July Challenge:

June Challenge:

May Challenge:

April Challenge:

March Challenge:

(this one is using a 'left-overs' background created by using the mist left on the masks and pressed at random onto the sheet.  Several left-overs were pressed onto the same page)

Incorporating kids work

Kids - they do so many drawings at playgroup and daycare that you end up feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of them.  There are plenty of clever ways of storing them, but for me as a scrapper, I like to incorporate the best ones into my own creative work.  A while back, Fergus painted this stripy tiger at playgroup, and we had it hanging on the wall for ages.  Eventually it was replaced with another drawing, and it was time to file it.

I cut out the tiger and spread it onto Kraft cardstock across a double layout.  I then created a really simple layout with some photos of us in our daily walk to school routine, along with journalling about the painting and about our walk.

Another way to incorporate the kids work is by creating a special annual file to put them in.  Every year, I make a pocket page to put all the kids certificates, reports and other collected pieces of work from school. This example is a 12x12 layout, but the blue section is a pocket that you can fill with stuff.  Here it is with nothing in:

And filled with all the pieces we have collected so far this year:

This layout then sits in an album and anything pertinent gets filed in there.

A few pages

This one for Jot Magazine:

And this for Scrap the Girls:

More than a Mum

Lately, there have been a couple articles that have helped crystallize my thoughts about working and parenting.  There was this piece, written by a young mother about how she is now defined by society as 'just a mother' and how that isn't ok with her.  Molly Smith said:

"I posted this status to my Facebook page:

"Generally, I'm OK with my life. But then sometimes I just feel so mediocre - I want to do something great. Something big. Something bold. Am I wasting my existence? What to do, what to do... #Deepthoughtfortheday."

I was surprised by the comments:

"Being a mom is the greatest thing you can do!"

"You will always be a mom!"

"Be the best mom you can be, the rest will fall into place."

When I typed out that status, motherhood and my son were not even on my mind. I was thinking of myself -- my accomplishments, my goals, my dreams. ... I felt angry, because for the first time in my life, I felt my identity was being reduced to only one aspect of who I am: a mom."

And my first thought was - what if a man wrote that on his page: "Generally, I'm OK with my life. But then sometimes I just feel so mediocre - I want to do something great. Something big. Something bold. Am I wasting my existence? What to do, what to do... "

Would the responses be:

"Being a dad is the greatest thing you can do!"

"You will always be a dad!"

"Be the best dad you can be, the rest will fall into place."

Or would they ask about the rest of his life?   And in a modern society that has equal rights for men and women, why shouldn't a mother be able to have more in her life than children without being called to task by others?  And how about providing a positive role model to your own children that you can be anything you want to be?  Why does society feel this desire to put motherhood above all other achievements?  After all, it's not like you need to be qualified to be a mother, just female and fertile.  Sure, it's often tiring work, but really, anyone can do it (to varying levels of ability).  Not like having a physics degree, or "an encyclopedic knowledge of horse racing" (as my sister puts it).  

Then, just as I was working out how all of these ideas work for me (a person who takes pride in her career in conjunction with growing future sensible adults, not to mention my hobbies), along came this article.  It's about school and how teachers provide other role models to children outside the home and how that is valuable.  "Each of us is a bundle of all the role models we have ever had. For our boys to BE good men, they have to SEE good men. To BE strong women, girls must SEE strong women."

Yes.  This is the answer.  It's not enough to "be the best mom you can be, the rest will fall into place", I need to be a strong role model so that my children can have a strong base to launch into the rest of the world from.  Sure, the children will gain role models from their father, teachers, soccer coaches, extended family, etc, but it is also important that I remember that I am a role model for them too.  I am a whole person that does many things, including being a parent, and it is this 'whole' version of me that shows my children the vast possibilities of life.

Footnote:  Another article along similar lines is here.