Do you remember making potholders for your parents when you were young? There’s a 9x9” square frame with teeth all around it. You take loops of fabric and wrap them across each of the vertical hooks and then weave the horizontal loops through, making a nice checkerboard pattern. Then you unhook the loops, feeding one into the next around the perimeter until you’re back at your starting point and tie a knot to complete the project. Fun, right?
I was substituting today and when the main teacher asked me if I’d like to help out one of the children who was having trouble engaging in anything at that point I told her I’d be glad to. I showed her what to do and she helped me. She wasn’t sure about the whole project and the interleaving of the horizontal loops was confusing to her so I did most of the work with her helping by holding things and handing them to me.
I was looking forward to seeing the final product come together when we realized there were some teeth missing where we needed to hook the last few loops. We tried with some tape (which didn’t work) and then triple hooked on the closest hooks so we could get started disconnecting the potholder/napkin/coaster thing.
There was some conferencing that happened between the main teacher and me because we knew you did one thing into the next, but how exactly was it we did that step? She and I both had memories of doing this as a child but that was quite a long time ago. We did figure it out though and I started moving around the frame while the child looked on and watched expectantly.
As I progressed slowly she told me it didn’t look square any more. It was also smaller. Oh, and she said she was bored now. I suggested she get some snack because right about that point things went all to hell with the last leg of the hooks coming off, leaving me an unravelling craft piece to finish.
I didn’t swear (out loud). Some time later with cramping hand muscles complaining loudly, I managed to finish the blasted thing. I thought I had re-woven everything correctly but I missed a few spots on one side, which irritated me. I handed it to her and asked her if she liked it and did she think her parents would like it—expecting her to refuse this piece of hard work she was about to get full credit for. But she did like it and she was happily putting it in her bag to take home as her farther arrived at pickup.
I’m not sure why I remember it being such a fun thing when I was a child. Maybe the loom I used then had different hooks that held on better—or maybe I had a teacher, like me, who helped do the tough parts.
Anyway, don’t ask me to help you make a pot holder. I’m done.
The Big Boy Update: My son can eat the heck out of a fast food kids meal. He loves them, especially after Tae Kwon Do. He will eat all the nuggets, fries and drink and then finish by licking the sauce out of the sauce cup. If only they made broccoli kids meals.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter went to Tae Kwon Do with my son tonight. She has her new glasses and we wanted to see if she could see what was happening. The last time she went, it was an exercise in frustration and disappointment for her and we didn’t want to put her through that again until we thought she was ready. She stood by another student and copied her because she wasn’t able to see what the master was doing clearly at the front of the room. She did stay close to the other girl, but she had a good time and was reasonably successful. My husband said she realistically did only about 15% of the moves correctly—but he also said she hadn’t been in the class since November and the other children are much more advanced at this point. So was she able to see more and just not able to follow the fast-paced flow of a class full of students who have already been taught the moves more slowly and had more practice? When she got home I asked her what her favorite move was and she showed me the Warrior Left and Warrior Right poses. I don’t think we’ll put her in class for now, but it’s at least good to see she’s able to do a bit more than she was able to see/do two months ago.
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