My boys are generally full of ideas and slow on the follow through. I love that they're creative but I'm always a little sad to see how much they shy away from anything that requires any amount of work. So many missed opportunities! But not this time. No. I don't know if they're still riding the high from the $5 mcdonalds gift cards they got for participating in a thanksgiving art contest, but it's like they suddenly want to do stuff and accomplish things.
The local elementary school craft fair was a perfect example of a missed opportunity. I signed up to have a booth and sell my baby blankets (need a blanket sewn? I still have materials for another hundred or so) and mentioned to my boys that I would have extra space if they wanted to sell something. They were brimming with suggestions, but in the end they didn't get anything completed before the event. They were utterly dejected and it may have been one of the first times they genuinely saw why you have to plan ahead and work hard to accomplish things. They saw me sell a lot of my items and were bummed not to play a part in the event.
Well, their Aunty took pity on them. Lucky boys. When she realized that they hadn't finished their 2 biggest ideas, homemade boxes of fudge and handmade rice packs, she gave them the opportunity of their lifetime. She hired them to make her Christmas presents for the people she works with at the local elementary school. They took her order, gave her the friends and family discount, and threw in free gift wrapping because they're cool like that. It was the perfect business deal.
Then they forgot about it. Well, sort of. I reminded them exactly 2000 times in 2 days that they might want to get started on their projects, but no, they were mad with free un scheduled time and could not be bothered. Monday brought the return of scheduled chaos to our home and then, when it could interfere with their schoolwork, they remembered that they had a gazillion things to complete and asked me to fit it in the schedule.
I complied.
Larry watched a video on the worlds easiest fudge a month ago and has been in a chocolate induced frenzy ever since. Each batch he makes tastes a little bit more amazing than the last and he constantly wants to come up with new favors (so far he has classic, peppermint, toffee and peanut butter mastered.) he whipped up 3 flavors in one day and let it rest and set in the refrigerator. Since he had promised free gift wrapping he stole his brothers idea of origami gift boxes (he also stole all my Christmas scrapbook paper) and proceeded to convince his brother and myself to make him 24 boxes. No biggie, it only took us 3 hours... He has magical powers of persuasion. While we slaved away for him, he whipped up some adorable hang tags on the computer and dug through an old box and found amazing paper to print them on and took a picture of his amazing fudge and made a cute little fudge map to tape inside the lid. Basically, he created perfection. Magically, he finished his project ahead of schedule and delivered them to my sister as promised.
I AM PROUD.
Then there's Curly. He sewed himself a rice pack several months ago and realized how easy and fun they are to make. Then, my sister used the rice pack to seal her Jamberry nail wraps and told him he should make them and she would sell them when she did Jamberry parties. He did not follow through. He actually got the packs cut out and half sewn before the craft fair but he didn't plan his time well and wasn't able to finish (I'm the mean mom who wouldn't let him stay awake all night getting the project done.) Since they were half finished it was fairly simple for him to finish filling them with rice, scenting them and sewing them closed, so he skipped a few math lessons and sat down at my sewing machine and did just that. The child has focus! He then packed them in origami boxes too (they really are cute boxes!) and added a little business card with directions (he's crazy proud of his business cards, which do not include his name or contact information, because he forgot that part.) He already has his second order and will be sewing more tomorrow.
I AM SO PROUD!
And that's it. I'm proud. It was nice to see some follow through and fun to see them make a project their own. They are very cool dudes.P.s. As I waxed poetic on my creative boys my husband sat next to me and pondered aloud if they were really creative or if they just do the projects I creatively create for them. So, please note that I may have had a heavy hand in their above entrepeneurialship. I'm not sure, I'm too close to the situation to be objective. Regardless, I'm still proud.
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