The Good [Kids'] Stuff: My favorite project yet

In keeping with my original plan to try and create an environment that can spark imagination, I've been thinking a great deal about the toys in our home. Because play is Pete's full-time job, it's important that he is surrounded with things that nourish his creativity. In brainstorming what to get him for Christmas, I kept thinking about a large canvas playmat that my mom made for my siblings and me. She still has it, and it continues to enchant any little visitors. It has no batteries, no small parts, and my mom's playmat still looks great after 30 years. I made one for Peter this year for Christmas and was really happy with the results...



Our playmat is set in New Haven, with our favorite spots: Modern Apizza, the medical school and hospital, our house and courtyard,the street carts where we eat our quesadillas, Lyman Orchards (which is great for the farm tractors and farm animals), our favorite beach, the Peabody Museum, Yale Art Gallery, Beinecke Library, and the theatre. We have the Bronx Zoo and Hartford Airport (which we know about really well) on the sides. There's also railroad around the periphery for trains, an ocean for ships, and a construction site for tractors.

This was a very time-consuming project, but I really loved every minute of it. This mat really captures my love of this place we live in and is both a fun thing to play with and a momento of our time here.
And Pete was ecstatic when he opened it up Christmas morning! Yay!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Happy Halloween (maybe just a tad late.)

We had a grand Halloween this year.  My entire family congregated at my parents' house and we took our kids around the old family neighborhood.  Many of our neighbors are the same, and were surprised to see all of us back at their front doors, begging for candy 15 years later.  It was fantastic!

Because my time is limited in having complete control over Pete's costume, I wanted to do something sweet and kind of old fashioned, you know, before Pete insists on being Thomas or Diego or a power ranger.  I worked at the Beinecke Rare Book Library, which houses the James Barrie papers. These papers include Barrie's manuscripts, stage notes, costume designs, and sketches of his most famous play, Peter Pan.  This collection captures the imagination of anyone who spends time browsing its contents--Barrie's Neverland is truly magical.  Here are a few favorites:

This is the original Peter, made famous in Finding Neverland.

Having a little Peter of my own, I thought I'd try to figure out how to reinvent Barrie's Peter Pan with my very limited sewing skill set.  Not to mention that I ordered this pattern too late, and had my very nice friend ship it to me, arriving two days before Halloween.  And as I was in California, in an apartment we were renting for a month, I had only one pair of scissors that were mini scissors in a travel sewing kit.  I drove around lost, looking for the fabric store, but managed to find Joann's. Thank goodness my sister let me borrow her sewing machine!  October 29, the stars aligned and with pattern, tiny scissors, fabric, and sewing machine set up at the kitchen table, I spent the first few hours doing this:

Now, I didn't swear, but I was spouting threats like nobody's business.  As my husband was innocently sitting on the couch I was saying things like, "Oh man, in one minute, I'm going to swear." "Seriously, I'm going to swear", "I'm just going to GO OFF!" My husband said it wouldn't be a night of sewing with Becca without a few grumbles, moans, and swears under my breath.  I can't argue with that.  But, after a lot of all that, I got something figured out, and although it was nothing too impressive, it kind of resembled my original vision, and, well, I was just glad that Pete was able to wear something.  My perfectionism flew out the window long before the final fitting, and when Pete's head was too big to fit through the neck hole, I was perfectly happy to cut the collar at the neck to make room.  And, despite all the doozy mistakes that came with this project, Pete was perfectly happy with the final product.  I think he wore it for three days straight.  Way to validate your mama, Pete!

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Extreme Makeover Table and Chairs

Last June, a neighbor gave me a an old, beat up toddler table and chairs set, and with a little tlc, I brought it back to life.  

Here's the before:

And here is the after:

Just some sanding and a few coats of orange paint and it was good as new!

I like these little crab pillows that I found at Ikea.

Here are the table and chairs finally doing what they were made to do: hosting Pete in his bulldog jammers, while he eats crackers in one chair, and Rufus, Pete's best friend, in the other chair.

The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Homemade Playdough

It seems as though the more I live as a mother, the more my adolescent desires for independence and originality have morphed into longings for the familiarities of my childhood. I find myself trying to recreate all the good things that my own dear mother did for me and my siblings over the years, and one mainstay in our childhood home was homemade playdough. It's not fancy or original, but there's nothing better than sitting around the table and rolling out some worms and snakes.

I found the recipe here.