My mother is my biggest fan. Okay, wait, she’s also my sister Lacy’s biggest fan. And, yep, she’s also my brother Cory’s biggest fan. Well, also, she’s my brother Rory’s biggest fan. Now, before my father starts to feel left out, I might remind him that this is a Mother’s Day post… and we’re celebrating Tracy!
My point is that one of my mom’s inherently special personality traits is she shares the most genuine interest in four very different children. Notice how I said share, because she is not simply a kind observant. She happily engages with and takes part in what makes her children happy to keep our bonds close. She and I literally have one Kindle account because what she reads is what I read. She listens to favored episodes of the Dave Chang Show and trades notes on spices with Rory. She is the only mother on Lacy’s DM thread about The Bachelor! And for Cory, well, let’s just say it’s a good thing that she doesn’t mind walking the golf course should any type of crisis occur… (inside joke)!
Yet this post is called the Art of the Craft. So, I’ve decided to dedicate a post to one of my mother’s interests that is her own, and that is crafting. Whether artfully placing the pieces of a puzzle together or crocheting an affirmative picture, my mom loves to adorn her space with a homemade masterpiece! Each book’s theme ties into a core facet of my mother’s personality, and adeptly explains why I am actually her biggest fan.
Extra Yarn, a picture book by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, teaches us that to share even what little you may have makes the world a lot more beautiful. Sutton Foster allows us to believe that craft can preserve memories of a moment necessary to our growth in her memoir, Hooked. Hope Springs, a middle grade novel by Jaime Berry, teaches us that people are what make a home, not the Texas backyard of your crafting idol (though it sounds like a fun adventure, doesn’t it?) Finally, for your teen who may try to claim craft as ‘babyish,’ I could not recommend Stitching Stolen Lives more, which preaches a lesson that my mother has always believed – if you love your craft, then use your craft to share your voice.
same page book blog 