When Jack's birthday was approaching, I decided to make him a birthday crown. I found Nicole Spring's tutorial in my search for information about the Waldorf philosophy. The lightbulb above my head became illuminated with bright ideas, so I set off to make my baby a beachy birthday crown. My classroom teaching style has always leaned toward the Reggio Emilia approach, but my mothering style leans toward the Waldorf approach, especially in the honoring of birthdays and seasons. I was determined to make my beach baby a birthday crown that reflected his first year on our little island, surrounded by tropical flora and fascinating critters.
The coconut tree and the frigate bird represent Jack's babyhood on the beach. Most days, we found ourselves spending extraordinary amounts of time on the beach at Ramon's Village Resort (a 2 minute walk from our home) sitting under trees and digging in the sand, watching the birds dive for their next meal, and splashing in the sea. On one of his first beach visits, he found a stick and poked at the sand for 20 minutes, and watched some ants crawl around. Nothing else. I love childhood! So simple and pure.
I visited the one and only craft shop on Ambergris Caye. The store carried only 4 colors of felt. In contrast, there were approximately 300 colors of embroidery floss. (mmmm... island life) I bought all 4 (18x24) sheets of felt, embroidery floss, and a ramshackle embroidery hoop; and while driving home in my golf cart with Jack in the Bjorn, tried to figure out what I was going to create with such an odd mix of colors: off-white, beige, forest green, and yellowish gold.
The coconut tree and the frigate bird represent Jack's babyhood on the beach. Most days, we found ourselves spending extraordinary amounts of time on the beach at Ramon's Village Resort (a 2 minute walk from our home) sitting under trees and digging in the sand, watching the birds dive for their next meal, and splashing in the sea. On one of his first beach visits, he found a stick and poked at the sand for 20 minutes, and watched some ants crawl around. Nothing else. I love childhood! So simple and pure.
The gecko was inspired by the many delightful bath time visits from the real live geckos that hang around in your house (and eat your mosquitoes!!!) when you live in the tropics. These little creatures delighted Jack many times when (out of the blue) they would freak out at the presence of humans in their domain, fall from their hiding place into the bath tub, and swim like mad trying to escape. It's a good thing we have a strainer in the bath toy collection. We simply remove the gecko from the bath water and put it on the floor to run away and hide again... and hopefully eat more mosquitoes.
The bird of paradise flower does not have a special story. It just happened that I had odd colors of felt and needed to figure out something yellowish-gold, and that was it. There were bird of paradise flowers decorating the tables at our wedding! Does that count?
The turtle on the front of the crown was inspired by my friend Rosemary. Her husband is Greg Smith, aka. "Turtleman", a legendary marine biologist in Belize, so I think of Rosemary and her family as the "turtle family" in their own little paradise waaaaaay north on Ambergris Caye. Rosemary gave me inspiration on motherhood during my pregnancy, and tons of hand-me-down cloth diapers. She has talked me down from many a mothering cliff, she is patient and loving, and an amazing mother to her 3 children, the oldest of whom was one of my most brilliant students at The Island Academy.
The crown was a fun and much-needed project. I sat on the couch with Peanut in my lap and and embroidered. This is not like me. I am usually on the go, cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, and most importantly caring for Jack. This project gave me a wonderful reason to sit down, relax, and enjoy myself. I aspire to find more of those projects, because having a child to craft for is such a joy, especially because he loves seeing things come together. He watched his crown "happen" from start to finish, and we practiced singing Happy Birthday when he would check in with me. The Waldorf philosophy teaches that parents who create for their children nurture a deep respect for themselves (and the creation!) in their childrens' eyes. Whether they are making a birthday crown, knitting a pair of mittens, or just cooking lunch, the children are watching, learning, and growing.
In that spirit, look what I made with the leftover felt!
Next entry: Jack's wood toys, made by local artists in Belize. Good stuff!
