They Gave my Kids Craft sets....what do you think happened?

Most people that don't have kids have no idea what it means to give a child a craft set. What it really means is a hour of screaming and yelling over how it should be done, between the child and the parent. The fight that takes hold over the instructions and how they say it should be done vs the reality of how a child will do it.

When you don't have kids you walk through a store say Micheal's. You see all these cool craft kits, from beads to painting and everything in between. To any Aunt or uncle that doesn't have have kids you see a gift possibly that is relatively cheap and in theory a good idea. However very few of you think this through, or think of the way the child will see it vs the way an adult will see it. An adult will see a simple craft that can be done in a hour with very little mess or trouble.   An adult with kids sees a fight, clean up, and finally the every important question from the child "Where will you hang it mom?" While secretly the parent is thinking "Where can i put this so no one will see it?" and "Where can i put this so none of my other kids think they should have their's hung up too?" Do you ever wonder what goes through a parents mind when there kids bring home crafts from school? well A) "wow i am so glad you didn't try to do that at home!" and B) "wow that is really .....ugly." No this never comes out of our mouths what you hear is "WOW that is so cool! You did that all by your self?" to which we will usually hear "YES all by myself!" After we have gone through the motions and finally get the kids to go play we can then decide where best to place this "thing?" Crafts at school are the best as the parents don't have to clean up the mess or over see the progress to ensure that nothing goes somewhere it shouldn't. At home it is much different, if the kids know where i have put these gifts from hell, they will go and get them with out noise or being noticed. They then take them to the "safety" of their room for further "FUN." This basically insures that their rooms are only inhabitable by them. This leaves a lovely "present" for you to find later, when you finally pull on the surgical gloves and mask to clean the room. Case in point.....

Thanks to Google imagines. This very close to the one
daughter got for Christmas.

This evening I was having fun on Twitter (@selfmademummy) replying and being a smart ass (my usual). Bath time began like any other night, get the youngest of my 3 in the tub and then set to work on getting the middle child in the tub.  I go into the bed room in question to clean up clothes form the floor and SURPRISE! GOO EVERY WHERE on the carpet. Her Aunty had given her a craft kit during Christmas to make "Window Clings" (fuck if i know?) The goo to make these things was rubbed in, dried on all over the carpet in her room and very neatly set in the corner was this craft set. What was a lovely evening turned into a pissed off mom (who threw out this craft set ASAP), and a very up set girl who thought she had done nothing wrong! Bath time was anything but relaxing and and my carpet is for lack of effort to find another word FUCKED!

Don't miss understand, It is was gift given with love and the thought behind it was innocent. This brings to light something every parents knows. People that don't have their own kids don't know have a clue! Being and Aunty or an Uncle is nice but it is NOT the same!