Weekend Projects Lead to Better Parenting

For those who know me personally, I am a little “unconventional”.  Trista and I are very different.  Last weekend, Trista and her husband completely painted their entry way and living room together. It was completed in a day and looks fabulous.

I started painting my hallway about three years ago and well, this is it…today!

It’s not that I don’t want to finish painting that hallway, it’s just I am in a creative state of mind (and perhaps disorganization along with procrastination). Once I saw how the color really didn’t cover up the Sharpie artwork from my then 2 year old, I decided to reconsider the color.  Oh, then there is the homeschooling mom in me that says to herself, “Hey you, your kids need to complete those assignments or they will be scarred for life.”  Quite the contradiction, huh?

But painting or other weekend projects can be pretty darned therapeutic. When you do something creative like paint, scrapbook, or other, you lose yourself in the creative process. For those few hours, you forget about the daily concerns and end the project feeling refreshed and anew.

Now think about the project in terms of raising your children.You see, raising children is a job that requires years to show results. Sometimes you can feel so out of control and it’s hard to know at any given moment if you are doing it right.  Much like that half painted wall.

Do you ask yourself, ” Are my kids too active? Too passive? Too outgoing? Too shy? Too concerned? Not concerned enough? Am I doing it right? Wrong? What can I do different?  Likewise, it is the children who give you the feedback and that can seem a little unrewarding and overwhelming at times.

So losing yourself in the creative process, such as a weekend project, is actually a good lesson in parenting.  Weekend projects can be messy and overwhelming at times, but in the end, the result is completion. And knowing you did a great job and finished to the end is a refreshing feeling.  Just the kind of control every parent can use.

Nanci Scarpulla, M.Ed., Marriage and Family Counseling