"The Plant Project"

So here we have a picture of a piece of the"The Plant Project". Alex and her classmates were given a project to "Design a Plant". So here's my dilemma as the parent... how much is too much help? So when she was trying to get started and thinking what she could make it out of... she was thinking basic construction paper... but i thought... OO!!! Ive been saving all of the toilet roll and paper towel rolls for some sort of craft project... this is perfect... so I gave her that... then I had another OO!! moment... I have a bunch of scrap fabric left over from making skirts... "You can use that!" I told her... so from there... she took over... she figured out how she wanted to cover the rolls... the pattern that she wanted... she found some green floral tape and insisted to cover the stem portion with this tape... so she had all of the pieces put together and then it was time to figure out how to keep all the pieces together as one flower/plant.... thats where the glue gun had to come into play... so we pulled out some popsicle sticks and i hot glued the sticks to the middle and peddles and then Alex added little designs to each stick... so anyhow... to make a long story a little longer... we put it all together... and Daddio comes in and sees it and says "Wow... the teacher's never going to believe she did that by herself"... so here I am now... fretting over this poor project... "did I do too much?... no, i only gave her the materials and handled the scolding hot glue... but was that too much?... should i have let her do whatever she was going to do with the construction paper?... naaaaa... I was just teaching her that she can use other mediums other than paper... and to try and think 3 dimensional... but is this her idea now, or my idea?.... blah, blah, blah.... " It's that little battle between the angel/backer on one shoulder and devil's advocate on the other shoulder, ya know? Anyhooo... I will be starring at this 3 foot flower until Friday when it's due... and probably continue to torment myself until then... can we say "LET IT GO ALREADY!!!!" :)~

Ahhhh... the joys of being a parent... this whole "getting older" thing has me a little perplexed this year... its a new phase in letting her take on more responsibility and has me trying to figure out where Im suppose to take a step back and where I'm still suppose to take a part... didn't I just give birth to this child yesturday? Surely she can't be 8 already!!! Final note for the day... give your kids an extra special hug today and look them in the eyes and tell them how much you love them!!! :) Hugs to all of you!!! OO!! Hugs!! That gives me an idea for my next post!