Playdoh

So my son played with playdoh yesterday. It would have been no big deal, besides the fact that I must be the only mother on earth who does not like it. Playing with clay has never appealed to me, since the semester I spent in college ceramics class, where I was the only student who could not control the wheel and make a simple cup with even sides. My teacher told me, "See? (insert classmate's name here) can do it. That means you are not far behind." She was very wrong. I was light years away from that student and not in the right direction.

My husband enjoys playing with it, as does my daughter. I, as I mentioned, do not.

However, yesterday proved to be a different kind of day. It was the first time my son pointed to the designated arts and crafts box in our closet and pulled out the small tubs of color. Once I pulled them out for him and showed him how to make a ball out of them (Ball! Ball!) he was fixed. I flattened the balls out for them and he pulled different colored pieces and put them on top - his version of a pizza. I showed him how to put some of the clay in the molds and how they came out looking like food - blue bananas and pink pears. He "fed" some to me and I "fed" some to him. He somehow understood that it wasn't real food, but he pretended to eat a meal with his Playdoh snacks. I showed him how to flatten the balls with his hands; he didn't like this and motioned that he wanted his balls back. I made him his balls, and made more molded green and purple bananas, and "ate" his yellow and blue apples. He liked to play with the blue and purple colored ones the best (boo! pupple!) and was very precise in where he placed the pieces, so his playdoh looked just right. He apparently didn't like the butterfly mold that I made because he used the plastic knife to cut it apart (cut! cut!).

We spent an hour playing with playdoh. It was time well spent, and to my surprise, I had fun! I had wondered what kinds of things I could do to keep this little guy busy. I feel relieved that he can decide this for himself.