Ideal Motherhood

When my father was visiting last weekend, he gave the Short One among other things, a Mr. Potato Head. Before the SO was born, I had actually picked up a Mr. PH and stashed it away in the closet as an emergency children's birthday gift. I'm the kind of person who hoards gifts and cards in the event they will be unexpectedly needed. I have the feeling that most women do this to some extent though, no? It makes the Husband tear his hair out - he hates the additional clutter. (We will graciously pass over those instances where H. has raided my hoard in need of a birthday card or anniversary card at the last minute.)

Anyway, as with so much else in the house, the SO has gradually annexed all of the children's toys I had stashed away and has been happily playing with most of them for some months, including Mr. PH Senior. Sadly, when we opened up Senior earlier this year, we were disappointed to discover that the box contained only one set of eyes, ears, nose, mouth and arms. There was basically no choice for a child to make when assembling his potato, except for placement of the various features. Apparently, I had picked up the Potato Head Lite version, without realizing it.

With the arrival of Mr. PH Junior, who was accompanied by a whole suitcase of features and accessories, our days of woe have come to an end, though. The SO has been happily creating original works of potato art on a daily basis. Although he had mostly subscribed dutifully to realism in designing his pals, after I mentioned that he didn't have to stick to two arms and ears, etc., he ended up letting loose his creative spirit. Most versions of Junior now come with additional arms. Frankly, I feel that the SO has created a picture of ideal motherhood with this potato. Many a day have I thought to myself that I could really use a pair of extra arms. This one even prudently has a second spare on top of the other four, just in case. I feel that this Ms. PH can probably handle an active toddler and vacuum the house, wash the dishes and do laundry all at the same time, without breaking a sweat. I'm envious.

Seriously, though, one of the fun parts of being Mama is having the opportunity to play with toys again. Perhaps it says more about my level of maturity than anything else, but I really enjoy rediscovering childhood favorites with the SO. It is also a great source of inspiration, both directly and indirectly, for my jewelry design. I was inspired to create my dragon beads after the SO and I spent time reading fairy tales and stories about dragons.

As far as Mr. PH goes - I suspect that, over the long haul, I will start finding little plastic ears and colorful noses in odd parts of the house, but for now we're having a fun time reinventing your basic potato.

Have a great day.

ps. Did you notice how I cleverly managed to work in jewelry-making in this otherwise completely non-jewelry or knitting post? I have a couple more catch-up projects to handle until I get to new work... In the meantime, the SO is always a favorite topic of conversation at our house...